Five Months of Hell
by You-Can't-Catch-Me
Summary: Leif broke Leona's heart, and she did the same to him, so they parted ways. However, when the farmer's daughter tells the innkeeper's son that she's pregnant with his baby, what will they do? More importantly, what will Leona's overprotective parents do?
1. Loathing

Rain. What perfect weather for my predicament.

I looked up at the night sky, almost hoping that the rain would come down even harder, and I would drown and not have to deal with what was going on. Or maybe, the dirt road below me would get so wet that a sinkhole would open up and carry me down.

_No, _I thought, quickly shaking my head.

I frowned. Even _thinking_ of such things proved that I was nowhere near ready for what would come. I was too selfish, and even more juvenile. Thatwas my tragic flaw. Maybe it was because my father spoiled me to no end, or that my mother was always daydreaming. Maybe it was because I was an only child, or because everyone in Trampoli loved me.

I blinked back tears. _Almost _everyone in Trampoli loved me.

That reminded me once again of the fact that I had some important matters to discuss, so I quickly went on my way to the Sunshine Inn, also known as the home of my ex-boyfriend.

I walked through the muddy road to the Business District, and breathed a sigh of relief that the Business District was the only part of town that had cobblestone roads. It was late at night, but I knew he would be awake. I knew him more than I wanted to.

The lights were still on at the inn, so I just pushed open the unlocked door. Eunice, the owner and my ex's older sister, jumped as she saw me, as though she had seen a ghost. I loosened my heavy cloak a bit, and tried not to cry.

"Leona!" Eunice cried. "It's one in the morning! What's the matter?"

"I'd like to talk to your brother," I said, keeping my brave face. I couldn't stand to say his name.

"I thought you…" she started to say.

"Please," I said, biting down on my lip every chance I got. "It's…kind of urgent."

"All right," Eunice said gently. "Why don't you sit down? Oh, and you're all wet, poor thing! Do you want me to take your cloak?"

"No, thank you," I replied, looking down. "I'd prefer to leave it on." With that, Eunice went upstairs to her brother's room.

I sat down in an armchair by the fire, and once I could tell that Eunice was far enough away, I started to cry. I needed to let it all out before they came back down the stairs. But those tears alone weren't nearly enough to let out what I was feeling.

Eventually, I heard footsteps come slowly down the stairs, and I felt sick to my stomach. Despite that, I turned my head.

There he was…I hadn't seen him in months, and he looked like a wreck. His thick, brown hair, which was usually clean and combed, was messy, dirty, and in my opinion, he badly needed a haircut. Instead of covering himself like a normal human being, he only wore boxers, and ill-fitting ones at that. And I could smell him from a mile away: sweat and alcohol. I couldn't believe that I had once thought that I was in love with him.

I was suddenly overcome with rage, and I didn't feel like crying at all. I got up from my chair, and glared at him. He also looked shocked, but then, his expression turned to one I couldn't quite read.

"Well, well," he said. "Look who it is! It's Juliet, coming to try and win back her Romeo! Honestly, Leona, I didn't even imagine that you'd be kicked out of the most famous theater troupe in Norad so quickly! What did you d-?" Before he could finish the sentence, I ran straight toward him, grabbed his shoulders, and pushed him as hard as I could. He fell, and luckily, he stayed there and remained completely vulnerable.

"Never pick a fight with a trained Earthmate, Leif," I growled. "Especially not when you're drunk."

"I'm not dr-" he attempted to lie, but I cut off his sentence by making him cry out in pain, as a direct result of me kicking him in the crotch as hard as I could.

"You've already been enough of a jerk," I told him. "Coming back from vacation and bringing in that woman from out of town…you think I'll be made a fool of again?"

"She's gone," Leif groaned, obviously in a great deal of pain. "And at least…she wasn't so possessi-" That time, I went for the same spot, but with a stomp instead of a kick.

"Possessive?" I asked, not lifting my foot. "That's hardly an insult compared to what you are! I could call you a liar, or a cheater, or scum, or…" I finally looked at him straight in the face. His expression was one of horrible pain, and there were tears rolling down his pale cheeks. I rolled my eyes, and lifted my foot off him.

"Thank God," he muttered, slowly standing up.

"You're pathetic," I told him, starting to walk away.

"Well," he replied. "You haven't been threatened with sterilization by an unlicensed 'doctor's' foot."

That sentence made me stop in my tracks. I felt the tears coming, but I refused to let them fall.

"Well," I told him, keeping my head down. "It…it wouldn't be a…a bad idea t-to…have that done." I couldn't hold my tears back any longer.

"Oh, God!" he shouted. "Now _you're_ crying? I didn't lay a hand on you, you hurt _me_!" He paused. "Leona, I don't want to be in a committed relationship right now. I'm just not ready." I quickly turned around, feeling angry again.

"Really?" I asked. "Well, are you ready for _this_?" I quickly removed my cape, and dropped it to the floor.

We were silent, and I waited for a response. When I felt like I had waited too long, I grabbed his hand, and held it so he was touching my stomach. Then, I felt it, and he must have as well, because he quickly pulled his hand away, and looked at me, an expression of horror on his face.

"Please," he said, his eyes wide. "Tell me that you just have the hiccups."

"I wish I had the hiccups," I replied. "Instead, I thought I'd show you what became of your 'gift' from four months ago."

"No…" he whispered, running his hand through his hair.

"Funny how you mentioned my theatrical almost-debut," I said. "Because they didn't fire me…I quit. I did my research, and according to every source I looked at, there has never been a pregnant Juliet in the entire history of The Royal Players of Norad, and I didn't want to be the first. Besides, I didn't want to insult Juliet's character." I picked up my cloak, put it back on, and headed for the door. "Goodbye, Leif."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going home," I replied.

"To the capital?" he asked.

"No," I told him. "To the farm." I opened the door.

"Your father," Leif said quietly. "He's going to kill you." I turned around, and smiled at him.

"No," I replied. "He's going to kill _you_, and I'll be there to watch. Goodbye, Leif."

I walked out of the inn, and into the rain. I started to walk home, pleased with myself. I couldn't wait until Dad beat the crap out of Leif!

However, something much different was in store…for both of us.

**First, I'd like to clear something up: no, Leif and Leona are _not_ brother and sister. In the game, if Raguna and his wife (in this case, Mist) have a baby girl, then Turner and Rita will have a boy, and vice versa.**

**Good, now I can talk about other things! As you know, I am really ADD when it comes to stories, and I work on whichever one I feel like, depending on my mood.**

**So basically, this is basically Leona's "Teenage Stupidity". However, the plot will be much different, aside from the whole accidental pregnancy thing, and the fact that Leif and Leona are in their early twenties. Also, I thought it would be a good idea to write about some non-OCs for a change. And this plot just came to me!  
**

**And don't worry about my other stories! They will be updated!  
**


	2. Rude Awakening

I walked back through the mud, until I was finally home. My heart was pounding, and I wasn't sure if I should knock on the door. Finally, I decided it would be better to go inside and be warm, even if it meant my parents hating me. I knocked on the door, and waited.

Finally, the door opened, and my mother peeked out at me.

"Leona!" she cried, hugging me. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Mom," I said right away. "We need to talk about something. It's really important that I tell you now."

"Oh, honey," she cooed. "You're all wet! Come inside before you catch a cold."

Mom's behavior worried me even more. I was twenty, and my parents _still _treated me like a baby.

"So," Mom said. "Why are you back so soon, and why didn't you let us know you were coming? We could have planned something nice for you. Our little actress…"

"I quit," I said promptly, sitting down on the couch.

Mom's jaw dropped.

"But…why?" she asked. "That was your dream! You've always wanted to be an actress."

"I had to quit," I replied, taking off my cloak again. "The production is in…five months." I put a hand over my stomach, and looked over at Mom. She looked incredulous, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, Leona," she said, hugging me. I started to cry as well.

"I…just told Leif," I said. "He was in shock, but I…I can tell he won't be of any help."

"Leif is the father?" she asked. I nodded, and she hugged me tighter.

"It was before he went away," I whimpered. "Before he brought back that…that woman he met. He told me it was because I'm so…selfish and possessive, and he needed a break from me!"

Neither of us said anything for a few minutes, and I cried into Mom's shoulder.

"We're going to need to let your father know about this," she finally said.

"Good," I replied. "I can't wait for him to teach that jerk a lesson." Mom paused briefly, as though unsure of what to say next.

"You should go to sleep," she said. "You're going to need it. You can tell your father in the morning."

"I really am tired," I admitted. Then, I frowned. "I don't have any dry clothes. I sold just about everything so I could pay for the trip here." I sighed. "It really doesn't matter, though…nothing would fit me now."

"You have a few nightgowns in your room," Mom said. "And those will definitely fit you. Now, go right upstairs. You need to develop better habits if you want that baby to be born healthy."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," I replied crankily. Either way, I went upstairs.

It felt like a long time since I had been home, let alone in my own room. I quickly lit the lamp by the door, and for a moment, I just looked at it. Finally, I walked over to my closet, grabbed the biggest nightgown I could find, and changed into it. I felt like crying again when I realized how tight the fabric of the nightgown was around my growing stomach. I decided instead to go to sleep.

It didn't seem like I had been asleep for long when I woke up to the sound of voices right outside my door. I sat up quickly in my bed.

"Mom and Dad," I whispered.

I jumped out of bed, scared to leave my room, so I stood at the door, listening.

"Mist," Dad was saying. "I can understand nostalgia, but this is a little ridiculous."

"Well," Mom said. "You wouldn't understand, Raguna. You _are _a man, after all."

"What do you mean by that?" Dad asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Mom said. I heard Dad sigh.

"Please," he said. "Put the maternity clothes back in the attic."

_Damn it! _I thought. I wasn't one to swear, not even in my head, but Mom had really messed up my chances to explain everything myself. I was only a little sick to my stomach when I woke up, but as I became more and more terrified, I could practically see the color draining from my face.

Suddenly, my stomach heaved, and I knew I didn't have any time. I opened the door, and ran for the bathroom across the hall. I threw up for quite some time, and I was exhausted once I had finished. I sat down on the cold floor, trying to calm myself down. Unfortunately, Dad walked into the bathroom, and I felt sick all over again.

"Are you all right, Leona?" he asked. I was a little surprised at first, because I didn't know that he knew I had come home.

"Yeah," I replied, sighing heavily. I stood up, but I realized what a stupid decision that was once I heard Dad gasp.

"Leona," he said quietly. "What…is that?" He pointed to my stomach.

"Your grandkid," I replied boldly. I usually wouldn't have said something like that so easily, but I was annoyed from morning sickness, and angry that he wasn't more sensitive about the whole thing.

Dad didn't say anything. I watched in horror as his face turned red and his knuckles turned white from him clenching his fists too tightly. He turned, and started to run away. I heard him go down the stairs, and finally, out the front door.

"What's he doing?" I asked Mom, walking back out into the hallway.

"I…don't quite know," Mom replied. "But whatever he's doing, I'm sure it's nothing good."

I suddenly caught sight of some large boxes on the floor, which I assumed contained Mom's old maternity clothes.

"Ah, yes," Mom said. "We need to get you properly dressed. A mommy-to-be shouldn't be showing her cleavage quite so much." She went over to one of the boxes, and started looking through the clothing.

"Mom!" I cried, quickly crossing my arms over my chest.

"Here's something to change into for now," Mom said, pulling out a blouse and a pair of pants. "Wow, fashion has changed so much over the years…" She handed me the clothing.

"Thanks," I said, taking it from her.

I quickly went back to my room, and started to change. I felt immediately relieved of some of my tension, since Mom's old clothing was not only more comfortable, but it also didn't squeeze me to death.

"Much better," Mom said as I went back out into the hallway. "You'll fit in perfectly with your friends."  
"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," Mom said. "Kevin and Doriane's baby is close to a year old now, as is Rex and Luna's little girl. Luna's also expecting again, and according to Doriane, it's a little boy. He'll only be a little bit older than yours."

"Wow," I said quietly.

Suddenly, I heard the front door open, and it slammed against the wall.

"Ah!" Leif's voice cried. "Let go of me, Raguna! Are you out of your freaking mind?"

"Shut up!" Dad shouted. Mom gasped and I smiled, as we both realized what was going on. We both ran down the stairs to confirm what was happening, and all the way down, I laughed at how pathetic Leif was.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for had come.

**Cliffhanger!**

**The next chapter is where the actual plot will be revealed. You may also have to look back at VLA to get a refresher on the Trampoli second gen characters. For now, at least.**

**And...I think something in Raguna's brain exploded. XD  
**


	3. The Trial

I smiled sadistically as I saw that Dad had chosen a good method of restraining Leif: holding him by his hair. To make it even funnier, Leif was still wearing the same undersized boxers that he had worn when I last saw him.

"Raguna!" Mom cried. "Let go of that boy right now!"

"He's not a boy," Dad growled. "He's a perfectly functional young _man!_" On that last word, he used his free hand to whack Leif in the crotch.

"Ah!" Leif cried. "I could sue the pants off you people for sexual harassment!"

"You knocked up my daughter!" Dad shouted. "You're one to talk about sexual harassment!"

"I'm making popcorn," I said, laughing. "Because I can tell already that this is going to be a long show!"

Suddenly, the door opened again, but this time, Rita and Eunice stepped inside.

"Leify!" Eunice cried, running up to him. Rita looked over at me.

"Ha!" she exclaimed. "So it _is _true!"

"Mom!" Leif whined. "Help me!" Dad sighed, and let go of him.

"Whiner," he muttered. He turned to me. "And don't think I'm forgetting about _you, _Leona!"

"But Dad!" I pouted.

"That's not going to work this time," he replied. "And as shown in _that_ little display, you are most certainly not ready to take care of a baby!" He looked at the ground. "I'm sure Lara will be able to find a home for it."

The room fell silent, and even Turner, who had just arrived huffing and puffing, knew that something was going on.

"Y-You mean it?" I asked.

"Leona," he said. "You can't be so selfish. A baby isn't a toy. You can't just leave it lying around while you go off and do whatever you want."

"Your father's right," Mom said. "It would be best for you, and for the baby, if you just gave it up for adoption."

For some reason, that thought didn't go well with me.

"No!" I cried, my eyes filling with tears.

"There must be something you can do," Rita said. "Obviously, Leona doesn't like that idea, and who knows? She might just prove herself worthy."

"Mom!" Leif whined again. "Aren't you on my side?"

"For the first time," Dad said. "That stupid kid of yours has some sense."

"Wait!" Eunice cried. The room fell silent, and everyone turned to look at her. "I have an idea, but Leif and Leona can't hear it. We have to go somewhere else."

Mom, Dad, Rita, and Turner seemed to think it over.

"All right," Dad finally said. "Let's hear it." Eunice smiled, and started to walk outside, while everyone but Leif and I went along with her. The door slammed shut.

"Great," I muttered, sitting down on the couch. "I'm trapped in a room with _you._"

"You really find me _that _annoying?" he asked.

"No," I replied. "I find you despicable."

"So," he said. "Would you get pissed off if I did _this?_" He sat down on the couch, but as far away from me as possible.

"Ha," I said. "You're too pathetic to even sit next to me." He scooted closer to me.

"Better?" he asked sarcastically.

"Get away from me," I told him. He pretended not to hear me, and stayed put. So, I kicked him in the leg. To my surprise, he kicked me right back. I kicked him harder, and he did the same to me. My plan was to kick him until he got bored of kicking me back. But then, the baby gave a good hard kick, and I groaned in frustration.

"Giving up?" he asked. I didn't answer. "Ha! I win!"

"Ugh!" I groaned, getting up and moving to a nearby chair. "I'm not 'giving up,' I'm being kicked from the inside!"

"Smart kid," Leif muttered.

"You shut your mouth!" I shouted.

At that exact point, the door opened up again, and Mom, Dad, Rita, Turner, and Eunice came back inside, all looking happy and relaxed. I was immediately worried.

"We've figured out a way to _possibly _let you keep the baby, Leona," Dad announced.

"Possibly?" I asked.

"The final decision will be made after a trial," Rita said.

"Trial?" Leif asked, dumbfounded.

"And _you're _not excluded from this, Leify," Eunice said, wagging a finger at her younger brother. "You'll learn your lesson, too. It's both a trial and a punishment."

We all sat down, either on the couch or on chairs.

"I'll just cut to the chase," Dad said. "Leif and Leona, you two are going to do a role play that will last for approximately five months…or at least, until Leona has the baby. Starting tomorrow, you will be acting in the role of husband and wife."

"_What?_" Leif and I cried simultaneously.

"That's insane!" Leif protested. "Why do I have to do this, again?"

"Because," Turner said sternly. "You _were _a part of this whole thing. And you need to learn that you can't just…uh…do things with anyone you want."

"Consequences come in various forms," Eunice added.

"And what does being 'married' to Leif have to do with child care?" I cried.

"Honestly," Mom said. "We needed to find a way to incorporate his punishment with your learning to take care of a baby."

"Also," Dad added. "If you're going to have a kid around, you're going to need to learn to take care of a house in general. And I know from experience that children leave messes wherever they go. You can't just let a child run around in a filthy house."

"And cooking!" Eunice exclaimed. "You'll learn cooking, too!"

"Anyway," Rita said. "The best way for learning to take care of a child is by taking care of a man. They're really not that different."

"This isn't fair!" Leif whined.

"And not to mention sexist!" I shouted.

"Well," Dad said. "There's another part of the plan: if you don't participate in this, you won't be allowed access to your houses, and once we spread the word, nobody else will let you in either."

There was a short pause.

"All right," Leif said finally. "I'll do it."

"What about you, Leona?" Mom asked.

I thought for a minute. While I hated Leif, I wanted to keep the baby. But a baby really _was _a huge responsibility. I sighed, placing my hand on my stomach again. As if prompting me, I felt a kick, and I made up my mind right then.

"I'll do it too," I finally replied.

"All right," Dad said. "You'll be living in the house on the road to the beach."

"I used to live there," Mom said. "And I go to clean it from time to time, so it's still in pretty good condition."

"So," Rita said. "You both need to pack up for your little adventure. Tomorrow begins your new life together!"

**Well, this could get interesting!**

**Not much else to say...that's new.  
**


	4. The First Day

I spent the whole night worrying. Throwing up, and worrying.

The next morning, I was tired, cranky, and hungry. Mom and Dad escorted me to the house I would be living in for five months, but we were surprised to see that nobody else was there.

"Typical," I muttered. "He probably couldn't get out of bed."

"It's nine," Dad said. "They should be here soon."

As if on cue, Leif ran up to us.

"You're late," I told him.

"I'm well aware," he replied.

"Hm," I said. "It's nice to see you're fully clothed. Good job!"

"We'll help you with your bags, Leona," Mom said quickly. She was obviously trying to pull me away from the conflict.

We went inside the house, and I couldn't help but notice how quaint it looked.

"We spent all night stocking this place with everything you'll need," Mom said.

"All right!" Leif exclaimed. He ran over to the refrigerator, and opened it. I heard some of the contents rattling around as he looked through it.

"What do you need, Leif?" Mom asked. She sounded annoyed, which was very rare for her.

"I'm looking for the beer," Leif replied. I saw Dad's face turn slightly red.

"There _is _no beer, you moron," he said through his teeth.

"Well," Mom announced. "I guess it's time for us to go. Have fun!" She hugged me. "Bye!"

"Bye, Mom," I replied. Dad hugged me as well, but he didn't say anything, probably because whatever he said would probably an insult to Leif.

They left, and slammed the door behind them.

"Aw, man!" Leif whined, pathetically walking back into the main part of the house. "How am I going to get hammered _now_?" I narrowed my eyes, marched over to him, and pinned him against the wall.

"What the hell?" he cried. "Let go of me, you psychopath!"

"Do _not _talk to me like that!" I shouted. "And let's get this straight: I am _really _unhappy about the fact that I have to live with you for five months, and I'm pretty sure the feeling's mutual. So if you act like an idiot this whole time, I'm going to be annoyed! And if _I'm_ annoyed, then _you're_ almost certainly going to be in pain! Got it?"

"Ah…um, yeah," Leif replied, seeming terrified. I took my hands off his shoulders, and he sighed, and shuddered.

"Thank you kindly for not going for my manhood that time," he said sarcastically.

"You're very welcome, _dear_," I replied.

I went over to a small bookshelf against the wall, and looked through the books. Every last one of them was related to pregnancy, childcare, or cooking. I frowned, but I took one anyway, sat down in a chair by the fireplace, and started to read. I had barely gotten through a few words when Leif flopped down on the couch and groaned.

"What's wrong?" I asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

"There's nothing to do here," he replied.

"We have a whole shelf of books," I told him.

"I don't read," he replied.

"Well," I said. "We aren't confined to the house, you know. We could take a walk or something."

"It's freezing outside," Leif said. Then, his eyes widened. "Maybe that was part of the plan. Maybe they chose late Fall so they could keep us inside the house!" I returned to my book, attempting to tune him out.

I started reading again, only to hear someone knock on the door a few seconds later. I felt like swearing out loud, but I got up to answer it.

"Leelee!" a high voice cried. I froze as it hit me that the person standing right in front of me was Doriane, my best friend since we were little. Without any warning, she hugged me, but quickly let go, and gasped.

"I can explain, Dori," I quickly said.

"Please do," Doriane replied. She grabbed the handle of a stroller, which I hadn't noticed at first, and we started to walk inside.

"What's going on?" Leif quickly asked, sitting up straight on the couch. Doriane gasped again.

"This way," I said, steering her and the stroller down the short hallway. I figured there would be a bedroom where we could talk without Leif barging in and disturbing us.

I was correct in my assumption. I quickly slammed the door, and sat down on the edge of the bed, trying not to cry.

"You are _so _lucky that Hugh didn't wake up," Doriane scolded. "Honestly Leona, did you have some kind of mental breakdown?" Despite my best efforts not to, I started to cry.

"I…I'm sorry," I whimpered.

"Oh, no!" Doriane cried, sitting down next to me and giving me a hug. "I should have been more sensitive! Is everything okay?"

"I don't know," I replied, calming down a little. "After I went to the capital, I found out I was pregnant…and I know for a fact that it's Leif's. I quit my job and came back here. I told him first, and then Mom and Dad. And now, I'm being tested to see if I can deal with Leif, and if I can't do it, I can't keep the baby!" At that point, I broke down again.

"I should have known," Doriane said, patting my back. "I felt the spirits calling out that someone nearby was pregnant. I thought that they were just talking about Luna." She suddenly made a little squeaking sound that I recognized as her "I'm really excited about something" noise.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I just thought of something to cheer you up," she said.

"Ice cream?" I asked.

"Uh, no," she replied. "You should make Leif go get that for you. Anyway, I can tell you if the baby's a girl or a boy! If you want to know, that is."

"You can tell this early on?" I asked.

"It's not that early," she said. "I can tell. After all, he's kicking like crazy in there!"

"You're telling me," I replied miserably. "I can barely keep anything down between that and the morni…wait, did you just say _he?_"

"Darn it!" Doriane pouted. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to let it slip, and I hoped you wouldn't notice…" She sighed. "Yes, it's a boy."

I rested my hand on my stomach, absolutely stunned. My eyes filled with tears. The baby was a boy…

"Oh, Leelee!" Doriane cried. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have told you anything! But really, boys aren't so bad! They only-"

"No," I said, smiling and wiping my eyes. "I'm glad you did. Thank you, Dori!" I gave her a hug.

"I'll advise you of one thing," she said. "Do _not_, under any circumstances, tell Leif."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because," she replied. "It might ruin your chances of winning this trial. Who knows, maybe Leif doesn't want a boy."

Suddenly, I heard a noise come from the stroller, which quickly turned into crying.

"Sounds like someone's awake," Doriane said in a sing-song voice. She reached into the stroller, and pulled out her pudgy little baby, Hugh.

"Oh," I cooed. "He's gotten so big! He looks more and more like Anette every time I see him."

"He sure does!" Doriane replied. Hugh tugged at her shirt, and she blushed. "Feeding time."

"Go ahead," I said.

"We're going to have to wean him soon," she muttered, pulling a blanket out of the stroller. "Would you mind holding him for a sec?"

"Okay," I replied. She handed Hugh to me, and I panicked, wondering what I was supposed to do to keep him calm. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long, because Doriane took him, and started nursing him under the blanket.

"So how have you been feeling overall?" she asked me.

"Pretty bad," I admitted. "I'm either hungry, or I have morning sickness. And there are times when I want to punch the wall, but sometimes…" I paused, blushing. "No, never mind."

"You want to have sex with anything that moves?" Doriane quickly asked.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," I replied. "But yeah, that's about it."

"That's what Leif's for!" she cried.

"Ugh," I muttered. "I'm not _that _desperate."  
"I was kidding, anyway," Doriane said, smiling at me. She paused for a second. "Ah, he unlatched. And I'd better get home soon. Mom's losing her mind, between Dad sharpening swords, and Cinnamon being lazy. And Kevin's gone, helping Danny in the store."

"I understand," I said.

Doriane got up, fixed her clothes, and put Hugh back in his stroller. We started to walk back toward the door, both ignoring Leif, who had somehow managed to go to sleep on the couch.

"Good luck," she finally said. She opened the door, and left.

I looked over at Leif, and saw that his eyes had opened.

"I was hoping you'd stay asleep," I muttered.

"Why?" he asked, smiling. "Is it so you can go have sex with anything that moves?" He started laughing hysterically.

First, I blushed from embarrassment, but then, I remembered that Doriane had told me not to tell Leif about the baby being a boy.

"What else did you hear?" I demanded.

"Doriane suggesting that you do me," he replied. "I always knew she was smart."

"She was joking," I replied angrily. "And I don't plan on sleeping with you ever again, so get it out of your head!"

"Why?" he asked. "I was too amazing last time?"

_You really weren't, _I thought, although I didn't really know that for sure.

I sat down in a chair, and I went back to my book.

"I hope it's a boy," Leif finally said.

"What?" I asked. I was completely shocked, and I had almost dropped my book.

"I hope it's a boy," he said again. "That way, we can name it after your dad, and it'll lower the chances of him kicking my ass."

"That's a stupid and incredibly selfish reason," I told him. I started reading again, but the baby started to kick.

_Maybe he'd like being Raguna Junior, _I thought.

However, I quickly frowned and shook my head slightly, as if the idea would go away from doing that. Stupid Leif…

**Haha!**

**Let's see...not much to say once again. I believe I'm going mute...HELP! XD  
**


	5. Bedtime!

The night soon fell, and I was about to pass out. The lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me, and I had read in the books that pregnant women are often tired, especially in the earlier months. Even though I was technically past the first trimester, I was still tired.

For some reason, Leif had gone to sleep really early that night. Maybe it was just because he had actually gotten up before noon, for once in his life.

I could barely walk down the hall, but I did anyway. There was no way I was going to sleep on the couch. Unfortunately, Leif was occupying the bedroom I had gone into earlier that day, so I continued walking, and I stopped in front of the room at the end of the hallway, hoping it was a bedroom. Upon opening the door, though, I discovered I was only half right.

"A nursery?" I asked aloud. I didn't even bother looking around; I was so annoyed by the fact that my parents, as well as Leif's, were obviously fans of cruel and unusual punishment.

I marched right back down to the main bedroom, lit the lamp on the bedside table, and leaned over Leif.

"Wake up!" I demanded, shaking his shoulder. He groaned, and rolled over. At that point, I was so mad that I slapped him across the face.

"Ow!" he cried, sitting up. "What the hell is _wrong _with you? Why are you so violent all the time?"

"This is the only bed in the house," I told him. "And I want you out of it."

"Ugh," he muttered, lying back down in bed. "Go sleep on the couch or something."

"I _can't _sleep on the couch!" I shouted. "If I fall off, then-"

"I get it!" he cried.

"Then why aren't you moving?" I asked.

"Because I don't want to!" he replied.

"Fine!" I told him. "Stay here, but be prepared to wake up at six in the morning to the sound of me getting sick!"

Luckily, I had moved my clothing into that room earlier that day, so I started to undress. I frowned, as I felt that Leif was staring at me.

"Don't look," I snapped. I didn't hear anything, so I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough, he was staring, with a stupid-looking smile on his face. At that point, I was so annoyed that I took off one of my shoes and threw it at him.

"Jesus, Leona!" he shouted. "Do you think I'm immune to pain?" I turned around, eyes narrowed.

"You know," I said. "I could ask you the exact same thing." I saw his eyes suddenly grow wide, and at first, I thought it was due to the perfectly-timed comeback, but then, I realized that my top half was only partially covered. I quickly turned around.

"I normally would be offended by a comment like that," he told me. "But now, I'm just trying to think of something that would make you turn around again, because looking at those beauties through a bra isn't enough for me."

"Ugh!" I cried in disgust. I took off my other shoe. "You're such a pervert!" On that last word, I chucked the shoe at him as hard as I could.

For some reason, though, he cried out more loudly than he had the previous time. I just kept changing into my nightgown, not thinking much of it.

"Go get Lara," he said weakly.

"Oh, you big baby!" I said jokingly, but as I turned around again, I saw that he was hunched over, with his eyes shut tightly and his hands over his ears.

"Please," he whispered. "I think you just gave me another concussion."

_Another? _I wondered. But then, I reminded myself that this was serious.

"All right," I said, pulling my shirt back on. "I'll be right back."

I started running, out into the cold. Lara had recently moved the clinic to her husband Erik's farm. I was lucky that I wasn't very far along in my pregnancy, and that I was in shape. Once I was there, I quickly knocked on the door.

Lara opened the door, looking worried as usual.

"Leona!" she cried. "What's wrong? Is it the baby?" My first instinct was to ask how she knew about that, but I decided against it.

"No," I replied. "It's Leif. He thinks he has a concussion."

"Oh, that boy," Lara muttered. "He just can't stay out of trouble. All right, I'll be along in a minute. I have to get my medical supplies. You should head back right now, just to check on him."

I did as she said, and ran back home, and back into the bedroom. Luckily, Leif didn't appear to be dead, as he was still curled up into a ball and whining incessantly.

"Leif, come on," I said, trying to pull him up. "Don't be a drama queen. It can't be _that _bad."

"Have you ever had a concussion?" he asked.

"No," I replied.

"Then shut up and leave me alone," he snapped.

I took a step back; I had never seen him that angry. It was almost as though there was more than one reason for that demand. But once again, I shook my head at the stupid thought. At that point, I heard the front door open, and Lara rushed into the room.

"All right," she said quickly. "Let me see you, Leif." She went over to the side of the bed, and yanked him up from his curled up position. She started pulling all kinds of things out of her medical bag, and she examined Leif.

"How did you get a concussion the first time?" I asked.

"I fell down the stairs," Leif replied crankily.

"Intoxicated," Lara added.

"Of course," I muttered.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Leif demanded.

"Don't shout," Lara reprimanded. "You'll just worsen your headache. By the way, how did you hit your head this time?"

"An attack with a blunt weapon," I replied.

"She threw her goddamn shoe at me!" Leif exclaimed.

"Language," Lara said sternly. "Although I can hardly blame him for being upset. Leona, you're about to have a child of your own, and yet, you're acting like one?"

"I agree," Leif said.

"Not so fast," Lara added. "Drinking like a student at the University of Palermo doesn't make one very mature, now does it?"

"Ugh," I groaned. "Don't even talk to me about them."

"That's right!" Lara exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, Leona. The capital is a touchy subject for you right now, right?"

"No, it's fine," I said, smiling at Lara's usual worried behavior. "It's just an expression, and a justifiable one, at that. Drinking is only one of the many vices of the Palermo boys."

"All right!" Leif shouted, pulling away from Lara, who was shining some sort of light into his eyes. "Can we cut the chit-chat and let me go to sleep?"

"Yes," Lara said. "But only because you don't have a concussion. You're going to have a nasty black eye, though."

"Damn," Leif muttered. Lara pursed her lips.

"That'll be one hundred gold," she said.

"I'm broke," I said, looking at Leif and shrugging. He frowned at me, and reached for his wallet, which was on the bedside table. He pulled out a few coins, and dropped them into Lara's hand.

"You're too kind," she said to him, in a voice filled with mock sweetness, as she packed up her bag. She then looked up at me, and resumed her usual kind behavior. "And please, Leona, take good care of yourself. See me soon for a checkup!" She hurried out of the room, and shut the front door quickly behind her.

I started to change again, and listened as Leif muttered to himself.

"I shouldn't have had to pay for that," he muttered. "You and your violence…it's like you have some sort of problem! Ever since you were a kid, you pushed people around, and then burst into tears if someone tried to fight back or speak up for themselves…" I pulled my nightgown over my head, and quickly turned to face him.

"Then why did you ask me out in the first place?" I asked him.

"Ha," he replied. "Because I didn't know you would be a clingy girlfriend, and a psychotic ex."

"I should've known you'd give some kind of smartass answer," I said. I turned off the lamp, and climbed into bed.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Leif asked, sounding panicked for some reason.

"Getting some rest," I replied. "And be quiet so I can pretend you're not here." Leif chuckled, and I shut my eyes.

Suddenly, I felt something poke me in the arm. Of course, I said nothing. Then, that same something poked me in the rib. I squealed, and flipped over to face him as quickly as I could.

"Leif!" I shouted. "What are you doing?"

"You said you're pretending I'm not here," he said. "So I'm having as much fun as I can with that."

"Try me," I said threateningly. I closed my eyes, until I felt another pair of lips hit mine. I pulled away, and cried out again.

_He's kissing me! _I thought.

"What?" he asked. "You said, 'try me'!"

"You _know _that's not what I meant," I snapped. "You're just trying to take advantage of the fact that I would have sex with almost anyone right now if I could. Now let me sleep." I shut my eyes again.

"_Almost_ anyone?" he asked. I knew his interest was either fueled by how much he wanted to annoy me, or by whichever part of his body was talking.

"I said _let me sleep!_" I shouted.

Luckily, he backed off after that, but my mind didn't. That boy sure was strange.

**Well, that was busy.**

**Also, just a bit of explanation: I recently re-defeated the Messhina Valley boss in RF2, and when you talk to Barrett after, he says that he sent the stone tablet to scholars in Palermo, the capital of Norad. I had tried to remember what the name was, and that was just the prompt I needed. Anyway, since RFF also takes place in Norad, I figured that the capital would still be the same.**

**And Leona's right...Leif _is_ strange.  
**


	6. Comedy and Tragedy

Most mornings when I woke up, I wanted to stay in bed as long as I possibly could. However, on the morning of the second day of living with Leif, I opened my eyes, and immediately jumped out of bed, trying not to scream.

Leif was hugging me. No, he didn't have one arm draped over me, but he was actually _cuddling _me like I was a giant teddy bear! Of course, I was out of bed in a split second.

It was cold, and that made me even more miserable. I went over to the room's small closet, and put a robe on over my nightgown.

"Still freezing," I muttered. Then, I remembered that the front room of the house had a small fireplace. I shrugged; a small fireplace was better than no fireplace at all.

I started a fire right away, but when I realized that I was hungry, I groaned angrily. Getting food would mean opening the refrigerator, which would be completely counterproductive. I decided that while I let the house warm up a little, I would see if I could somehow persuade myself to read one of the pregnancy books.

I slowly bent over by the bookshelf, looking through all the books, when I did a double-take.

"They're trying to torture me," I murmured as I took the copy of _Julius Caesar _off the shelf. My eyes filled with tears as I remembered that the speech I had used for my audition into the theater troupe was from that play.

But something overcame me, and despite myself, I stood up, and pretended that I was in front of an audience again.

"Friends," I said, as though actually speaking at a funeral. "Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." I paused, as I had rehearsed so many times before.

I continued on, remembering every little detail I had been coached on, whether casting a glare at an imaginary Brutus, or becoming overemotional while remembering a deceased friend.

"Bear with me," I finally said, making my voice choked up as though crying. "My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, and I must pause till it come back to me."

I was silent for a moment, and I closed my eyes, trying to visualize an audience, captivated by my rendition of the speech, but just as the image started to appear, I was interrupted.

"Wow," Leif's voice said from behind me. I jumped, and the baby started to kick. I slowly turned my head to see Leif, sitting on the couch. I wasn't sure of what to say or do next.

"How long have you been sitting there?" I finally asked.

"About since the first line," he replied. I saw the left corner of his mouth start to turn up, which I recognized immediately as the expression he made just before he started laughing.

I narrowed my eyes.

"You're going to laugh at me?" I asked. "Well, I'm doing all I can not to go insane in this godforsaken town! You want to make fun of the fact that I actually had a job doing something I was good at, and that I lost it? Go ahead, laugh all you want!" I turned around again, blinking back tears.

"You're ridiculous," he muttered. "I was going to tell you I thought it was good."

I was shocked.

"I didn't understand that play at all," he continued. "All those days I spent after school with Anette, trying to make sense of it. She had to read it aloud to me, because when I tried to do it myself, I tripped over the words, or mixed up letters. But Anette never had such good expression. So really, when you just said that speech, I understood."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked after a moment.

"I don't know," he replied. "When we were dating, you always made fun of the fact that I can't read clocks, or misspell words all the time, or mix up right and left. I guess…if the baby grows up to be stupid, it's my fault."

"You're not stupid," I immediately said. "At least, the way you learn isn't. I've met a lot of people, adults too, who have trouble reading and everything you just said. Doctors in Palermo have started treating it in kids, actually." I didn't know what the heck I was doing; while what I was saying was true, I was _comforting _the guy who had cheated on me!

I looked up at Leif, and I could tell he had absolutely no idea of what to say.

"Damn it!" he groaned, after a few seconds of silence. "I _hate _being sober!" He fell back on the couch and put his arm over his eyes.

"Get used to it," I said, rolling my eyes and sitting down in an armchair across from him.

"Why?" he asked. "I've been drinking ever since I was fourteen!"

"Then you _really _need to stop," I replied. "You'll be an old man by the time you're forty."

"And what do you care?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "Because you're not ugly, and there's no point in becoming ugly from premature aging."

"Did you just call me hot?" he asked. I took a deep breath before responding.

"No," I replied. "I didn't. There's a difference between being hot and not being ugly."

"But you must think I'm good-looking if you went out with me," he pointed out.

"Leif," I said. "Going out with you, but more importantly, breaking up with you, changed my whole perception of people." He looked over at me, a completely blank expression on his face. "I _do _think you're attractive, on the outside at least. To me, you used to be funny, great to be around, and you made me feel…happy. I honestly thought that someday, we would get married, and we would always be happy."

"Then why aren't we?" Leif asked.

"Because I don't trust you anymore," I replied angrily. "You can't just take someone's virginity, and then let someone else move in with you!"

"You don't understand," he muttered.

"I honestly don't," I replied.

Suddenly, the door opened.

"Good morning!" Eunice exclaimed cheerfully.

"Eunice?" Leif cried. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Just checking in," she replied. "Oh, that's another thing I forgot to mention: our parents, Leify, or your parents, Leona, or I will drop in from time to time to let you know of any news, or to make sure everything's all right. But you'll never know when we're on our way over here!"

"Don't call me Leify around people," Leif muttered.

"Only when you stop being so cute!" Eunice replied. She ran over to him, and hugged him tightly.

"Ow!" Leif cried. "Let me go! God, why did you have to get Mom's arm strength?"

"Same reason _you _got her figure, skinny!" she replied.

"Liar!" he protested. "I don't have giant boobs like her!"

"Well," Eunice replied. "I guess you would know. Five years of breastfeeding _would _leave an impression." I clasped my hands over my mouth.

"Five _years?_" I cried.

"Yep!" Eunice said. "The only reason he stopped is because he had to start school." I was stunned. "Don't worry, they're normally supposed to stop at around a year old."

"It's not true!" Leif cried. "Nothing she's saying is true!"

"Don't they have _teeth _then?" I asked.

"Oh!" Eunice exclaimed. "That's right, I completely forgot to tell you: Leona, you have a checkup with Lara on Holiday. You can ask her all of your questions then. And of course, Leify has to go as well."

"I have nothing to say to you," Leif told her.

"You're so cute when you try to be mad at me!" Eunice cooed. "I have to go help Mom at the inn. Bye now!"

She hurried out the door, and shut it behind her. I shivered as the cold air blew through the house.

"If I have to nurse our baby for more than a year," I said to Leif. "I'm going to kill you." Leif refused to make eye contact.

**Haha, theater reference in the chapter title. I guess it's a Green Day reference too...**

**Also, if you haven't checked out my YT channel or dA journal, DO IT! My brother and I are going to make a series of RFF related videos. They're funny!**

**Reviews are appreciated, as always.  
**


	7. An Emotional Checkup

The week passed with little difficulty, to my surprise. I had managed to keep things under control, and I had even learned some cooking from Rita. I was also thankful to Mom for teaching me how to knit when I was a kid, since it helped to pass the time, and on top of that, the baby would have some clothing. I had almost finished a pair of socks when I realized that knitting could potentially be a dangerous activity.

"Why are you making the socks blue?" Leif asked suddenly. I jumped, not only because I had previously thought he was asleep on the couch, but also because of my stupidity. The color would give away that the baby was a boy! I had to think of an excuse, and I had to think of it fast.

"I don't know," I replied. "I just like the color."

"I thought you liked pink," he said.

"But what if it's a boy?" I asked. "Boys don't usually wear pink."

"But what if it's a girl?" he asked in reply. "I thought boys usually wear blue."

"Girls can wear blue," I replied. "But if you're so offended by the idea of a baby girl wearing blue, I'll scrap the socks and make pink ones instead."

"Hmph," Leif muttered. "I guess it doesn't matter. We'll find out today, anyway."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We have to go see Lara today," he replied. "And she just got some weird machine that she ordered from the hospital in Palermo. Apparently, it can show what babies look like before they're born."

"That's ridiculous," I protested. "And it doesn't sound very safe."

"I don't know," Leif said. "Apparently, Luna used it just yesterday, and she and Rex found out they're having a boy."

"How do you know all of this?" I asked.

"I went over to the Clock Tower yesterday," Leif replied. "I had to talk to Kevin about something, and Doriane and Irwen were talking about it. It must really be something, because Irwen actually smiled for once." I narrowed my eyes.

"Don't you talk about my friend like that," I told him. "She's had a pretty tough life."

"Is that why she's such a downer?" he asked.

"Shut up!" I shouted, much louder than I expected. Leif looked shocked. "Her father is trapped in another world, and even if he wasn't, he was too demented and power-obsessed to even be a decent parent. He tried to kill my father once." I paused, my eyes filling with tears. "Iris was the only surviving member of the vampire tribe, and even that didn't save her from being raped. And having Irwen somehow changed her into a human. It took away her immortality, and Irwen knows it. All her life, she's felt guilty for making her mother suffer, even though it wasn't her fault."

With those words, I broke down. I had always felt sadness when I heard that story, but I had never cried that hard about it.

"Whoa, hey," Leif said, his voice both surprised and coaxing. He quickly rushed over, and sat down next to me. "I'm sorry, Leona. I didn't know any of that I guess I always just thought…I don't know what I thought, actually, but-"

"I'm being ridiculous," I whimpered. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"No," he replied. "You're not. It's normal for you to feel like that. One of those books said so."

"I thought you said you don't read," I said, rubbing my eyes.

Leif sighed heavily.

"You know how I said I went to see Kevin yesterday?" he asked. "His mom was also there, and I had one of the books with me. So after I talked to Kevin, I asked Anette to read the book to me. I tried to read it before, but some of the words didn't make sense to me. So I learned some things."

I was absolutely astonished. It had been a long time since Leif had cared about anything, let alone something involving me. Without thinking, my mind replayed a scene from about four months ago.

"_Leona! You're bleeding!"_

"_Yeah…I know."_

"_Oh God, I'm not hurting you, am I?"_

"_It…It's not your fault. This is normal. Just don't move yet."_

"_Honey, you're crying…do you want to stop?"_

"_No. I want to do this. I love you, Leif."_

"_I love you too."_

"Leona, are you okay?" Leif asked suddenly. I shook my head, trying to clear the memory away.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm fine. We should probably go soon, anyway. We're supposed to be there in about ten minutes."

"All right," Leif said.

We got our coats on, and went outside to start the walk to the clinic. I was surprised at how cold the weather had become in just a week, and I shivered uncontrollably.

"Here," Leif said. He pulled me close to him, took his left arm out of the sleeve of his coat, and wrapped it around me. "Better?"

I bit my lip, as I remembered the winters before. He had always done that when we were dating. He had said before that the warmth of his coat combined with his own body heat would keep me from freezing.

"What's gotten into you today?" I asked.

"I don't want you risking your health," he replied. "Or the health of the baby. You never acted so surprised when we did this before." I quickly pulled away from him, scowling.

"No," I replied. "I never did, because we were _in a relationship._"

"Leona," he said. "Come on, think of-"

"I'll do what I want," I protested.

"How can you be so selfish?" he asked angrily. "Right now, you're not just taking care of yourself. Your own pride could potentially be harming someone else." He took off his coat, and handed it to me. "If you're so bothered by the idea of even getting close to me, here's an alternative."

I didn't know what to say. Even though it wasn't much of a sacrifice, Leif had still done something selfless. For whatever reason, he really did care. But I wasn't about to admit that I had done something stupid. We soon reached the clinic after walking for a short time in silence. Leif opened the door for me, and we stepped inside. The clinic was nice and warm, and even so, I sat down by the fire.

Luna walked into the room, and I was shocked at how pregnant she was.

"Oh, you're here!" Luna exclaimed. "Mom's still checking up on Helena, so she'll be out in just a minute."

"Is she sick?" I asked.

"No," Luna replied, sitting down next to me. "But we think she might have a little ear infection. She's been tugging on her right ear and fussing a little more than usual, but other than that, she's fine."

"That's good," I said. "I guess the last thing you need right now is for her to be sick. When's your little boy due?"

"Around the middle of Spring," she replied. "It's going to be a lot of work to have Helena and Sebastian both so young, but Rex and I are up for the challenge."

"You've already decided on a name?" Leif asked, his eyes wide.

"Yes," Luna said. "Rex had said he liked the name when I was pregnant with Helena, but then, we found out that we were having a girl. So I guess we saved it for this time around."

I heard a door open, and Lara came into the waiting room with Helena in her arms.

"Just a little infection," Lara told Luna. "Some of these ear drops will have her better in a week."

"Thanks, Mom," Luna replied, taking Helena out of her arms.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, getting out of my chair and running up to Luna. "She's gotten even more beautiful since the last time I saw her!"

"She looks a lot like Dad," Luna said with a laugh. Helena smiled up at me.

"What a sweet little baby," I cooed.

"Speaking of which," Lara said. "Let's check up on how yours is doing. Leif, you can come in if you want to."

"Sure," Leif replied. He got up from his chair, and we followed Lara into a dimly-lit room.

"All right," Lara said. "Leona, I need you to sit down in this chair. Have you heard about this machine?"

"Sort of," I replied, sitting in the chair.

"Well," Lara said. "There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of, first of all. And I'll let you know of everything you have to do. And just relax. Everything's going to be fine."

"Okay," I said.

"The first thing I need you to do," Lara said. "Is lift up your shirt, just until your stomach is completely uncovered." I nodded, and although it was kind of embarrassing, I did as she said. "Good, dear. Now, I'm going to put this gel on your stomach. It's cold, so be ready for that."

"All right," I said. She took a little tube from one of the drawers, and squeezed it over my stomach. I let out a little cry of surprise, as it was really cold. Lara proceeded to cover the rest of my belly with it, and then she took something off the machine.

"This is going to be able to show what the baby looks like," she told me. "I'm going to move it around on your stomach until we find the baby. The image will look almost like a silhouette, so it won't show everything, but we'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat, and I'll also be able to tell you if it's a boy or a girl. Are you ready?" I nodded, and she put the small device on my belly and moved it all over.

Suddenly, I heard a steady sound, like the pounding of a drum.

"Is that the heartbeat?" I asked.

"Yes," Lara replied. "Now, let's see if I can find…ah, there he is!"

"He?" Leif exclaimed. Lara nodded.

"Look up there," she said, pointing at a screen with her free hand.

I gasped as I looked up. There was a black-and-white image that had a bunch of chaotic-looking moving lines, but I could clearly see the outline of a baby, all curled up, with his thumb just barely touching his mouth. He started to move a little, and I felt it. But what he did next, I couldn't even believe. As I continued to stare at him, I saw him stick his hand out away from his mouth, like he was reaching for something, and I suddenly felt something pressing against the inside of my belly. I looked over in the direction I could tell my little boy was pressing his hand, and my eyes stopped right where Leif, sitting there with his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open, was sitting.

The baby was reaching for him.

I started to cry immediately, and they were tears of both happiness and sadness. On one hand, the baby was healthy, but on the other hand, he wanted his father to love him. And for some odd reason, I felt the same way.

**And the plot thickens! XD**

**I wrote this chapter while avoiding homework, so I hope it's still good. HEAVILY IMPLIED BUT NOT EXPLICITLY MENTIONED SEX SCENES FTW! I feel violated now. Lulz.**

**Reviews are awesome! Also, if you haven't checked out my new drawing of Tristan and Aria on deviantArt, please do so! It's super cute!  
**


	8. The Job Search

One day, while I was sitting in my armchair and knitting by the fire, I heard a loud stomping sound from the bedroom.

"What do you want, Leif?" I asked, not even looking up from the tiny sweater I was making for the baby. The heavy footsteps came down the hall, and Leif stopped in front of me.

"I'm going insane," he told me. "I'm seriously going to lose my mind."

"Huh," I replied. "I was under the impression that you already _had_ lost your mind."

"No," he protested. "I'm stir crazy!"

"Well," I told him. "There's not much to do here in town. Why don't you go and hang out with Kevin or something?"

"He won't let me," Leif replied, frowning. "He says I should spend more time with _you_."

"If you want to get out of the house," I said. "Then go to the store or something. We're out of basically everything. Eggs, milk, bread, and-"

"I'm out of money," he interrupted.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't act so surprised," he said. "I didn't have too much to begin with, and I don't have a job."

"Get one," I told him. "And I'll go and get the shopping done."

"I'll go with you," he said.

"Why do you insist on following me everywhere I go?" I asked exasperatedly.

"There's ice on the ground," Leif replied. "And I don't want you to slip and fall." I groaned. "Leona, would you rather be seen with me and be safe, or be without me and potentially bleed to death?" My face suddenly got really hot, and I felt so angry I thought I would explode.

"Shut up!" I shouted.

"No need to raise your voice," Leif muttered. I marched over to him and slapped him across the face as hard as I could.

"Stop messing with my head!" I demanded.

"Leona, what the hell?" Leif asked.

"I can't figure you out!" I yelled. "One minute, you act like you care, and the next, you don't want anything to do with me! Make up your mind!"

"And why do you care so much?" he asked, starting to sound angry. "_You _hate _me!_"

"Because I'm frustrated!" I replied. "And I don't even know if I hate you anymore!"

"Then how do you feel?" he asked.

At that moment, I froze. I didn't know how to answer him. During my checkup, I felt like I loved him, but I knew that the idea of us being together was unrealistic. As much as I wanted to have a normal life, I knew I couldn't have it. I didn't know how to properly express it in words, so I walked up to him, and kissed him.

He let out a muffled cry of surprise, but then, he relaxed, and I felt his hand caress my cheek. I reached up to his head, and ran my fingers through his hair, while he held me close. I didn't know why in the world I kept going; I had only intended for it to be a relatively quick kiss! And more importantly, why was he still kissing me? As much as I wanted to stop, part of me wanted him to keep going.

But then, he started unbuttoning my blouse, and I quickly pulled away.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Exactly what you were thinking of doing next," he replied.

"No!" I protested, starting to button my blouse back up. "I wasn't thinking of _that!_" He laughed.

"And you say that I'm messing with _your _head?" he asked.

"I'm going to the store now," I said, trying to change the subject. I turned around and started walking toward my coat, when I felt a slight pinch on my earlobe, and Leif grabbed me again.

"You're desperate," I said, trying to act as though I didn't care.

"So are you," he replied, making sure to whisper in my ear.

"I…I'm not going to give in," I told him. My mind had gotten a little cloudy, and I felt a little weak at the knees. He had a point, though: I really _was _desperate. But there was no way I was giving up my self-respect just for that. I pulled away from him, and put my coat on.

"I'm still going with you," Leif said.

"Fine," I replied. "Just don't be such a pervert while we're out in public."

Leif put his coat on, and we left the house.

"We have to go to Danny's store, by the way," Leif said. "Kevin will kill me if I go to Rosetta's." I didn't say anything, and we continued to walk until we got to Danny's general store. But once we were inside, I almost jumped.

"I told you, Raguna," Danny was saying. "I'm not going to lower the price. I've got a grandkid too, so don't use that excuse."

"Fine," Dad told him. "I'll just go get it from Rosetta."

"Don't try to pull that kind of crap either," Danny muttered. I smiled; I had gone grocery shopping with Dad a million times, and it was normal for him to try bargaining in the winter. Seeds were hard to come by then, and he needed to grow crops in the dungeons in order to make some money.

My ankles were starting to hurt, so I shifted my weight. The floor creaked from that, and Dad quickly turned around.

"Leona?" Dad asked. "What are you doing here?"

"We're out of food," I replied. Dad looked over at Leif, and frowned.

"You're here too?" he asked.

"Obviously," Leif replied. Dad obviously resented that.

"Sorry," he said. "I just didn't recognize you. You don't usually look like such a bum. But the uncombed hair gave you away." He paused. "What are you blushing for?"

"Uh…" Leif stammered. "I, uh…"

"Dad," I said, changing the subject. The _last _thing I wanted was for Leif to tell him that I had been acting like a slut. "We're here to get food, not start a war."

"Right," he said. "But I'll have my eye on you, Leif."

"Hmph," Leif muttered.

We got our groceries, and I went up to the cash register to pay.

"What are you doing?" Dad asked. "You're not paying for all this, are you?"

"I have to," I replied. "Leif's out of money." Dad glared at Leif, who had been sitting on a bench in the corner of the store.

"Get your lazy ass up!" he demanded. Leif scowled, but did as he said. "You had _better _be looking for a job."

"I'm planning on it," Leif replied.

"Well," Dad replied. "Here's an offer: I need some help on the farm, and probably in the dungeons, too. I'd be willing to pay a fair amount to someone that could help me out." Leif looked at him blankly.

"He's talking about _you_, Leif," I said.

"What?" Leif exclaimed. "N-No way! I don't want to work for you!"

"Tell you what," Dad said. "I'll throw in breakfast and lunch as part of the offer, but only if you're willing to work hard. And who knows? Maybe I'll be less likely to beat your ass." Leif thought for a moment.

"Fine," he said.

"Good," Dad replied. "I'll see you tomorrow at six."

"Isn't that a little late?" Leif asked. Dad smirked.

"Six in the _morning_, idiot," he said. Leif's jaw dropped, and without saying anything else, Dad left the store.

"I can't believe this," Leif said.

"Well," I said. "It'll be easier to get up in the morning now that you're not hung over all the time."

"Since when are you so optimistic?" he asked.

"Since I can sleep in while you do farm work," I replied. I started to walk out of the store.

"You know," Leif said. "You could at least say 'thank you'." I turned around.

"What for?" I asked. Leif looked down, as though he couldn't bring himself to answer.

"Okay, kids," Danny said finally. "Keep your high school drama to yourselves, and get out of my store."

"Thanks, Danny," Leif said sarcastically. He opened the door, and we left the store as Danny had asked.

We walked home in complete silence, and once we got there, I set the grocery bags on the counter and started to put their contents away. Instead of helping me, Leif went off to the bedroom, leaving me by myself. I was able to keep that up for a few minutes, until the baby started kicking, and at that moment, Leif walked back down the hall.

"Sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have left you to do all the work. Let me take care of it." I looked at him quizzically, wondering what had brought on his change of behavior, but I figured it was nothing, and sat down in the armchair by the fire.

After having been in the cold, it was nice to be there, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

**Wow, lots of emotional changes there.**

**And just as a completely random side-note, My Chemical Romance's new album is coming out on November 22, but their new single "Na Na Na" is coming out on Tuesday! But you can get it from Youtube as well. XD**

**Heh, I wish there was an open RFF fandub thing...  
**


	9. Memories

A couple weeks passed, and it continued to get colder as days wore on. We had been hit with heavy snow for some days, and even the small fire was barely enough to warm up the house. Leif had been in an especially cranky mood then, not only because of the change in his sleep pattern, but also because of the fact that he had to chop firewood in the cold. He was still learning how to swordfight, so he couldn't even follow Dad into the dungeons, two of which were always warm.

I wasn't usually up at six in the morning, so I was always alone when I woke up. One day, though, I found Leif clinging to me. I didn't pull away like I usually did, since it was so cold, and for some reason, he was always warm.

I looked at the clock, and saw that it was nine in the morning, and that was when I shoved him away from me.

"Leif!" I cried. "Wake up! You should have been at the farm three hours ago!" Leif groaned, and inched closer to me. "Stop that!"

"But you're so warm," he murmured.

"Go to work, Leif," I said in a threatening voice. He finally opened his eyes.

Upon seeing those eyes flutter open, I noticed, for what seemed like the first time, what a beautiful face he had. His eyes were the most gorgeous shade of violet, and his light brown hair framed his face perfectly. As much as I tried not to think about it, I couldn't take my eyes off him.

"I don't have to go to work," he said finally. "Not today, at least."

"Why not?" I asked.

"It's the Night of Holies tonight," he replied. "And your dad said that I should spend time with you." I lay there for a moment, completely still. But it wasn't because of what Dad had said.

"That means," I said quietly. "That we-"

"We don't have to go if you don't want to," Leif interrupted. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Or rather, me."

"I wasn't going to say that," I said. "I was going to say that we're now officially at the start of month five." Leif's eyes widened.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied. Leif sighed heavily. "What?"

"That's only four months left," he said.

"Good math, genius," I told him. He turned away and sat up.

"Thanks," he growled. "I really _am_ a genius, aren't I? You should see me _read._"

"Jeez," I said. "What's wrong with you all of a sudden?" He bit his lip, and quickly turned his head back at me.

"I did some research," he replied. "On what's wrong with me, that I can't read as well as everybody else, or spell words right, or even write so other people can read it. And I remember you said that doctors in Palermo are treating it. But I had Selphy read some of this book to me, and I don't remember what the problem is called, but all I do know is that it's incurable."

"What else did you expect?" I asked. For a moment, he didn't say anything.

"Well," he muttered, getting out of bed. "Fuck you very much."

"Excuse me?" I asked, suddenly feeling angry.

"I told you to go fuck yourself!" he shouted.

"That's what I thought," I spat, also getting out of bed. "And I bet you'd want to watch, too. On second thought, why don't you help me out on that?"

"One time's enough for me," he replied. "So I'll have to pass." I marched over to him, and slapped him across the face.

"How _dare _you!" I shouted.

"Oh," he said, barely even reacting to the pain. "Are your feelings hurt?"

Before I could say anything else, though, I felt something squeeze my chest, and I felt weak at the knees again.

"Let…go," I said, sternly and through gritted teeth.

"I don't think I will," he replied. "Don't try to pretend like you don't like this."

"I _don't,_" I told him. "Not with _you_, anyway."

"Well," he said. "If not with me, then who?"

"You are the most sexually desperate man I've ever met in my life!" I shouted, changing the subject, still trying to ignore the fact that Leif was still grabbing my boobs.

"Yeah," he said, leaning in close to me. "Look who's talking." I decided to mess with him in return.

"There's a word for that," I said, taking his hands away from me. "'Hypocritical,' I think it's called. Do you need me to spell it for you?" At that point, he let out a frustrated groan, and started quickly walking away from me.

At that point, I heard a knock on the door. I grabbed my robe, and headed toward the door. I quickly opened it.

"Eunice?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help you with the preparation for the Night of Holies," she replied. "From what I've heard, you still need some help with cooking."

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Come on in."

We stepped inside the house, and I shut the door.

"Where's Leif?" Eunice immediately asked.

"Somewhere in the house," I replied. "He's mad at me."

"Well," she said. "If he's still in the house, he shouldn't be hard to find. What happened?" I hesitated, not wanting to tell Eunice that her "baby brother" had been fondling me.

"I…don't want to talk about it," I replied.

"Ah," Eunice said. "So it was _that _kind of fight. I'll go look for him." She walked quickly toward the back of the house, and I decided to stay put.

"Thanks," I said.

In a short amount of time, Eunice came back down the hallway, her eyes wide.

"You didn't make fun of his spelling or reading, did you?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Yeah," I replied. "I did."

"Oh, Leona," Eunice said with an exasperated sigh. "You can't do that! It's just too upsetting for him!"

"I know," I said, sitting down in my usual chair. "But he's never gotten so mad about it before." She sat down across from me.

"If he hasn't," she said. "It means he either likes you more than you think he does, or he's just gotten tougher about it."

"Tougher?" I asked.

"Well," Eunice continued. "He's been pretty tough about it up until this point. At least to everyone else."

Suddenly, I remembered something from a long, long time ago. In fact, it was a memory from when I was seven years old.

"_Leify, why are you here all by yourself?"_

"_Because nobody likes me. Nobody wants to be my friend anymore, not even Kevin."_

"_That's not true! I'm your friend."_

"_Then why did you laugh at me?"_

"_Well, it _was _kind of funny. You read the word completely wrong!"_

The memory soon faded away, but I could almost still feel those violet, tear-filled eyes glaring at me. As I adjusted back to being in the room with Eunice, I couldn't help but think that maybe Leif's self-consciousness was so much deeper than I had thought.

"I need to talk to him," I told Eunice. "I'll be right back." I got up from my chair, and went as quickly as I could down the hallway.

After peeking my head into a couple of rooms, I was surprised to find Leif sitting on the floor in the nursery. He was staring straight ahead, but the redness around his eyes gave away the fact that he had been crying.

"Hey," I said softly. He quickly faced me, obviously startled.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I wanted to apologize," I said. "I _knew _that being made fun of like that upsets you, but I ignored that. I won't do it again…I promise."

Upon hearing those last two words, his eyes widened and he looked shocked.

"Okay," he said, obviously trying not to act surprised. But then, he turned his head again. "But how am I supposed to believe that? You think it's funny that I can't spell. You always have."

There was a soft-looking armchair right next to where Leif was sitting, and I sat down in it. I would have sat on the floor with him, but I was so pregnant that I wouldn't have been able to get up.

"That's not true, Leif," I said to him. "I'm your friend."

Leif slowly turned his head to look up at me, his eyes even wider than they had been before. He obviously got the reference to when we were kids, and I thought he might start crying. But there was no way I could have been able to predict what came next.

"Will you…" he started to ask. "Do you want to…go out with me for the Night of Holies?"

**It's been a while, hasn't it?**

**But I have a legit excuse: I was directing a play I wrote for school. But it's over now, so expect me to update more frequently!**

**So, how was that chapter? Even more bipolar than the last? XD**

**Leave reviews please!  
**


	10. Raguna

For a moment, I was unable to speak, no matter how hard I tried. There was no way I could find an appropriate response.

"I know that it's unexpected," I said. "Especially after what just happened. But I think it would be best if we kind of…you know, started over. There's no point in us fighting, especially if we're going to be stuck here for another four months." He hesitantly laid his hand on my stomach. "And I _know _how much you want to keep him."

I felt a kick, and Leif's hand recoiled.

"Did you just do that?" he asked me.

"I'll go out with you," I blurted out. Great, my mouth had finally decided to work, but a little bit late. "And no, he's acting on his own."

"O-Okay," Leif said. "Great. I guess we'll just go, then. Does nine sound like an okay time?"

"Sure," I replied.

Eunice came bounding into the room.

"Do you want me to help with the cooking?" she asked excitedly.

"Eunice!" Leif cried. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"Of course, Leify," she replied. "It's an important moment!"

"We've gone out before," I said.

"True," Eunice said. "But I think this time is going to be different. Now, Leona, I'll come back around six, and we can start the cooking."

I looked over at Leif.

"What do you think she means by that?" I asked.

"I have no idea," he replied. "All I know is that she's crazy."

"But you know you love your big sister, Leify!" Eunice called. I heard the front door close, and I sighed heavily.

The baby was kicking up a storm, so much so that I could see the movement through my shirt.

"That's freaky," Leif said. I looked over at him, and saw that his eyes were wide, but he also seemed to be smiling a bit.

"You're telling me," I said. "And he always does it at the most inconvenient times. It's more distracting than it might seem."

"Have you thought of a name for him?" Leif asked.

"I've been trying not to think about it," I replied. "I don't want to name him if there's the possibility that I won't be able to raise him myself." I sighed. "Besides, the only suggestion I've gotten, and the only one I've even _slightly_ considered, is Raguna."

I gasped, as I felt the hardest kick out of all that time, and it had happened right when I had said the name.

"What happened?" Leif asked. I decided not to answer his question.

"Raguna," I said again. The baby kicked.

"What's wrong with you?" Leif asked. "Why are you saying Raguna over and over?" And as I expected, the baby kicked.

"That's his name," I said.

"What?" Leif asked, sounding more perplexed than ever.

"Every time one of us said the name," I said. "He kicked. That's his name. Raguna."

"I don't understand," Leif said. "But okay, why not?" He paused, and frowned. "I don't think I can spell it, though."

"Well," I said. "We can work on that. I'll even help you." He smiled sheepishly.

"Didn't think of that," he murmured. "And…your dad will be pretty happy, I guess."

"He'll think we're sucking up to him," I replied. "But who cares? I kind of like it."

"Yeah," Leif said. "Well, I think I'm going to get dressed. I don't want to be _too _lazy."

"I should do the same," I said. "I just realized that it's cold in here."

"Actually," he said. "You can get dressed first. I'll start a fire in the fireplace."

"So chivalrous all of a sudden," I said, smiling at him. He didn't respond; he just smiled back.

I went into the bedroom, and started to change into warmer clothes. Once I was dressed, I headed back to the door and opened it, but instead of walking through the doorway with ease, I walked right into Leif, who just happened to be coming through the doorway at that exact moment. I heard a loud thumping noise, and realized that Leif had hit his head on the wall.

"Ow!" he cried.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah," he replied sheepishly. "Are you?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm not the one whose head bounced off the wall!"

"Don't worry about it," he said. "But I _do _need to get changed."

"Oh," I said, moving out of the way. "Sorry." Leif walked into the bedroom, and shut the door behind him.

I walked back to the living room, where the fire was just starting to heat up the room. I picked up a book I had been reading the previous day, and started reading it again. Strangely enough, I had left off at a very interesting section.

"Music and prenatal development?" I wondered aloud. I skimmed the section, furrowing my brow.

Leif came out of the bedroom in his change of clothes, and I looked up at him.

"Do you play an instrument?" I asked.

"No," he replied, looking confused. "Why?"

"I just read this section of this book," I said. "And it basically says that if I listen to classical music, the baby might become some kind of genius."

"Oh," he said. "Actually, I think I can help. A few months ago, Mom and Dad got this machine that plays music through these things called records. They have a lot of old music, so maybe we'll find something there."

"That's perfect," I said. "Do you think they'll let us in?"

"Probably," he replied. "The only way to find out is to go over there."

"Let's go, then," I said.

We walked quickly over to the inn, and went inside. Turner was sitting at the front desk, and he stood up slowly.

"Leif," he said sternly. "You know you're not supposed to be here."

"I know, Dad," Leif replied. "But we wanted to see that record player you keep in the bar."

"Ah!" Turner exclaimed, sounding a little more like his normal, cheerful self. "Go ahead, then. But _no _drinking."

"I know," Leif groaned, as though he'd heard that a million times.

We went back outside, and then into the bar.

"Here it is," Leif said, walking over to a strange machine. I saw that there was a box next to it, and Leif started looking through it. "Damn."

"What?" I asked.

"No classical music," he replied. "All they have right now are…" His voice trailed off. "On second thought, why not?"

He took a black disc out of the box, set it on top of the record player, and moved some sort of needle on top of it. He pressed a button, and I heard the energetic jazz start to play. Leif started stretching.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You'll see," he replied. "But you can't tell anyone about this, especially your dad."

"Okay," I said. I actually was curious to know what he was going to do.

As the music played, he counted softly, but what he did next, I never would have expected. He started to _dance_. I recognized it as a tap routine, but nothing I had ever been able to do. I had taken a few dance lessons while in Palermo, so my dancing ability was pretty mediocre. But I _never _would have expected Leif to be such a talented tap dancer.

After a few seconds, he took a deep breath, and bowed.

"I'm a little out of practice," he said.

"How and where did you learn to do that?" I asked. "Leif, how come you never told me about this?"

"You know how my family has always taken a yearly vacation?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, we go to this city a little ways away from this little town called Alvarna, and they have this dance academy there. Even though it's a small city, it's really top notch. Anyway, ever since I was about four, Mom has always made me take dance classes while we're there. We only stay in that town for about a week, but I've learned a lot in all those years."

"Leif," I said, shaking my head in disbelief. "That's…amazing. I could never do that."

"Do you dance at all?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I replied. "I figured if I didn't get into the royal troupe, I would end up working in a smaller venue, and it's good to have as many skills as possible."

Just as I said that, a different song started playing, and it was much slower than the last.

"Do you know how to partner dance?" Leif asked.

"Of course," I replied. Without a word, he smiled and held out his hand. I took it right away.

Even though I hadn't danced with a partner in what seemed like forever, I still was able to follow along with him.

"Someone wants to cut in," Leif said softly.

"What?" I asked. He laid a hand on my stomach. "Oh, yeah." I laughed.

We continued to dance all the way through the song, until the end. He let go of my hand, and he bowed to me, and I curtsied back. However, I was mortified upon hearing the sound of applause. We both turned our heads to see Turner, Rita, and Eunice standing in the doorway and looking highly entertained.

"See?" Rita said to Turner. "Those lessons for him really _did _pay off!"

"I can tell!" Turner exclaimed cheerfully. "That's my boy!"

"Leify!" Eunice squealed.

"I hate you all," Leif muttered, looking down at the floor.

Even then, though, I could tell that he was smiling. I couldn't help but smile as well. It was the first time I had seen him legitimately proud of one of his accomplishments, and some part of me felt as though I'd see that expression again.

**Aw, how cute!**

**And the idea of Leif being a good dancer wasn't originally there, it just kind of came to me. I figured he needed to have some secret talent, and for some reason, it just worked.**

**Now who's excited for the next chapter, about the actual Night of Holies? Let me know!  
**


	11. The Night of Holies

Later that night, after the cooking was done, I decided to work on the sweater for Raguna. I was almost finished, and I knew I would have to start another project soon, probably a pair of pants or something. Leif had decided to stay at the inn, but he didn't say why. I figured it was because he had left all of his nicer clothes there. A few minutes later, the door opened.

"Leona?" I heard Leif ask timidly. I turned around, and gasped.

In the time he was gone, he had obviously gotten a haircut, and someone had managed to brush it. He was dressed a lot nicer than he usually was, and his whole appearance reminded me of the time when we were dating.

"I know," Leif said. "Mom cut a lot off, I shouldn't have let her."

"No," I said, getting up from my chair. "It looks really nice. Now I feel bad that I didn't get dressed up."

"Ah," he said. "I don't really care. I mean, not in a bad way, I just mean that you should really just worry about keeping yourself warm."

"I know what you mean, Leif," I said, laughing a little. "I should go get some blankets. I'll be right back." I set down my knitting, and got up from my chair with some difficulty.

"I guess you're still not used to the extra weight," he said.

"Well," I replied. "I haven't been able to exercise or go into the dungeons, so I'm a little out of shape." I went back to the bedroom to get some blankets out of the closet, and went back to the main room to get my coat.

"Let's go," Leif said.

We walked toward the big tree in the Church District, which wasn't too far away. It was freezing cold, and fairly dark. But even in the darkness, I could see that nobody was there.

"Where is everyone?" Leif asked.

"Probably inside," I replied. "I mean, Dori and Kevin, as well as Luna and Rex have babies to take care of, and Joseph and Irwen would probably prefer the Rune Archives over this place."

"Damn," Leif muttered. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think about-"

"Don't apologize," I said. "It's not a problem. Let's just go home and have some hot cocoa and sit by the fire. It'll be much nicer there."

"Okay," he said. We started walking back home.

When we got back home, I saw that the fire was dying down. As if he had read my mind, Leif put another log on.

"That's better," he said.

"I'll start boiling some water for the hot chocolate," I told him as I started walking over to the stove.

"What can I do to help?" he asked. I turned around and smiled at him.

"It'll only take a few minutes," I said. "You don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

Leif's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had come up with a brilliant idea.

"I'll be right back," he said. He practically ran off toward the bedroom, and I wondered what he was up to. He came back shortly after with a piece of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. I pretended to be paying attention to the boiling water, but I continued to watch Leif out of the corner of my eye. He was whispering to himself, his brow furrowed. He would quickly write something down, pause to think for a second, and then scratch out what he had written, occasionally swearing aloud. At the exact moment I started to walk over to him with the hot chocolate, he set down the pen, a smile on his face.

"You look triumphant," I said, setting down the hot chocolate on the coffee table across from where he was sitting on the couch. All he did was smile at me and hold up the paper. It had tons of scribbles on it, but only one word that I could read, even through the messy handwriting: Raguna.

"I think I got it right," he said. I smiled right back at him.

"You did," I said. He looked down.

"I'm surprised you could read it," he said. "I know my handwriting probably needs some work, but I-" I cut him off by kissing him suddenly. He let out a muffled cry of surprise, but he relaxed a little, and I felt his eyes close, his eyelashes brushing against mine for a second. Without thinking, my breathing grew quick and shallow. He wrapped his arms around me, gradually lowering his hands. I threw a leg over him, and scooted up so I was straddling his hips. He started squirming beneath me, and I smiled.

"Is this too much for you?" I asked in between kisses.

"Ah…no," he replied, sounding out of breath. "Your stomach is…crushing mine…" My eyes widened.

"Oh, God," I said, sitting back down on the couch. "I'm so sorry." He quickly scooted toward me, and moved himself so he was on top of me. I let out a little cry of pain as he bit down on my earlobe.

"That was your punishment," he said. "Now, let's have some fun."

I fumbled with the buttons on his shirt until I was able to completely remove it. He had built up quite a bit of muscle, most likely from working on the farm, and for the first time in a while, I was unable to stop looking at him.

"You're so…" I murmured. I couldn't find words to finish the sentence properly. He leaned down and kissed me.

"Come on," he said. "Your turn." I blushed; for some reason, it hadn't even occurred to me that I might need to strip down.

"I…can't," I said hesitantly.

"Well," he said. "That's a shame, because I think you'd get a lot more out of this if you just took your shirt off." I considered that for a moment, and decided that he was right. Once I had taken off my shirt, I saw Leif's eyes light up.

"Stop staring," I muttered.

"I can't help it," he replied. "You're beautiful."

I felt my eyes widen; he had said those exact same words to me the first time we had sex, and I couldn't believe he was saying them again. Then, my eyes filled with tears. Sure, he had said that, among other things, and yet, he went off and cheated on me. How was I supposed to believe that he meant it that time?

"No," I whispered.

"Huh?" he asked. I pushed him away from me, and broke down crying.

"I can't do it, Leif," I sobbed. "I can't do the same thing with you that you did with _her! _And what if I did? Would you still think of her? Would you shout out her name and say it was an accident?"

"Leona," he said. "You've got it all wrong. I never-"

"I just don't know what to do," I whimpered. I curled up and continued to cry.

"I never had sex with her," Leif said softly. I looked up.

"What?" I asked.

"I never had sex with her," he said again. "I only even brought her back here because I was mad at you."

"Mad at me?" I asked.

"I was a dumbass," he said. He turned his head so he was looking at me right in the eyes. "When you left for Palermo, I was heartbroken. I didn't know where you were, or why you were there. And when I asked around, everyone said you had moved away permanently, and that you would be playing Juliet on the main stage of the Royal Theatre. So, I took to drinking, found a desperate girl, and brought her to Trampoli. Once you came back and found out, not only did I lose her, but more importantly, I lost you. The alcohol was the only thing I had left."

It was quiet for a moment.

"It was going to be a surprise," I told him. "I was even thinking of asking you to move to the city with me." His eyes widened.

"I know," he replied. "At least, I do now. But I guess it's too late."

"It's not too late," I said. "Like you said earlier today, we can start over."

"All right," he said. "Although there's one thing that I'd like to pick up where we left off."

"Of course," I said. We kissed again, quickly bringing it back to the level of intensity that it had been before.

But suddenly, the door opened.

"Leona," I heard Doriane say. "I just wanted to see if…_oh my God!_" Leif and I quickly pulled away from each other, but that didn't help at all. Doriane stared at us for a moment with an expression of shock, and we did the same to her.

"Hi Dori," I said.

"I'll see you later!" she said, practically slamming the door behind her.

Leif and I glanced at each other.

"I think the bedroom sounds like a safer place," I said.

"I agree," Leif said. We got up and ran toward the bedroom, and the whole time, including the time we spent staying up until three in the morning, I could only think of how that night was the best Night of Holies I had ever experienced, and that I would never forget it.

**Haha, the solid T rating got a little shaky, didn't it? Just like I said on twitter...**

**So yeah, they finally get together! Woooooo! But don't think it's over yet; there are still four months left in which anything can happen. Also, as a random note, I'm going to see My Chemical Romance in December. It's no big deal. Really. I've seen them twice already. Just kidding! I'm happy beyond belief!  
**

**Anyway, review!  
**


	12. Surprise!

I slowly opened my eyes, a smile still on my face. But when I realized that Leif had already left for work, my face fell.

_He only got three hours of sleep, _I thought. _No, probably less…_

I looked at the clock on my bedside table, and gasped. It was already noon, and I was still sleeping. I felt even worse for Leif. Suddenly, I heard the front door open, and I sat up.

"Hello?" I called. The footsteps continued, and Leif walked into the bedroom.

"Good morning," he said. I sighed.

"You must be exhausted," I said to him. "I'm so sorry I kept you up." He sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Trust me," he said. "I'd choose you over sleep any day."

"I'm flattered," I said, giving him a hug.

"Oh," he said. "I almost forgot. Doriane said she wants you to come over to the inn."

"The inn?" I wondered aloud.

"She probably just wants to have tea or something," he said.

"Or interrogate me about last night," I muttered.

"In that case," Leif said. "Let's hope my parents aren't around." I sighed.

"I'll get dressed, then," I told him. I got out of bed, and went over to the closet to get some clothing.

"I'll be in the living room," he said. "And then, I'll walk you over there."

"Okay," I said.

I got dressed quickly, and went to the living room. Leif handed me my coat, and we started walking across town to the inn. But when we stepped inside, I was surprised to see that Doriane wasn't there.

"Hm," Leif said. "Let's try the bar, then." We went over to the bar, and once we had opened the door, I was shocked.

"Surprise!" all of my friends cried, jumping out in front of me. They all rushed at me, and gave me hugs.

"Ah!" I cried. "What's going on?"

"Your first baby shower!" Luna replied.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed. "Thank you so much!" Doriane furrowed her brow and looked at Leif.

"No boys allowed!" she declared. She pushed Leif out the door, and slammed it behind him.

"Leona, sit down," Irwen said. "Your ankles must be hurting. I'll go get you some cake…"

"Don't worry about me," I told her. "I'm still perfectly capable of walking. If anyone needs a chair, it's Luna."

"I won't disagree with that," Luna admitted.

"Wait!" Doriane cried. "We need to talk about something before our mothers get here!"

"Oh, Dori," Luna said. "What could possibly be so important?"

"Leif and Leona did it yesterday!" Doriane exclaimed. "I walked in on them making out…with some key articles of clothing missing, I might add!" I felt my face flush a deep red.

"No!" Irwen whispered, obviously shocked, but still slightly amused. "Did you really?"

"Look at her face!" Luna said, laughing a little. "That expression says it all!"

"Now that I think about it," Irwen said quietly. "I _did _hear some screaming last night!"

"Irwen!" Luna cried. I was a little surprised myself; Irwen _never _made comments like that.

"Kidding," she said bashfully. For some reason, I decided to jointhe conversation.

"Well," I said. "It's possible that you did. He's _amazing_, after all."

"Leona!" Luna cried.

"All right," I said. "I'll stop."

I picked a good time to do so, because the door opened, and all of the mothers came walking in. Candy and Anette were gushing over Hugh, while Lara carried Helena, so that made me doubly lucky. I sighed with relief.

"Were you surprised?" Mom asked, running up to me and giving me a hug.

"Yes, Mom," I replied. "Were you in on this too, Mom?"

"Of course not!" Mom said. "It was all your friends' idea. Even _I _know that friends of the expectant mother always throw the baby shower!"

"Oh, right," I said. "Well, thanks for coming."

"I wouldn't have missed it," she replied. "And how's the little guy doing today?"

"What?" I asked. "Who told you?"

"I've known, dear," Mom replied laughing. "And of course, you know how small Trampoli is. If someone knows something, then everyone else will know that same thing soon enough." I grimaced.

"Does Dad know?" I asked.

"Yes," Mom replied. "He does. Why are you looking like you're in pain?"

"I don't know," I said, sighing. "I just think he'd be disappointed because of the fact that Leif is the father, and he doesn't like Leif-"

"Actually," Mom said. "I've been meaning to tell you about that. They're actually speaking to each other during their lunch break, and they've been doing so for a little while now. In fact, I've heard your father giving Leif some advice about how to take care of babies. The other day, the topic was changing diapers." I was stunned; the idea of Dad and Leif getting along was weird, to say the least.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Leona," Mom said gently. "Do you think I'm making all of this up? I guess Raguna just saw how hard of a worker Leif can be, and now they're close to being on good terms." At that point, I was bursting to tell Mom what we were naming the baby. But I had to keep my mouth shut, since there was a high chance that Mom would tell Dad, and I thought it would be a nice surprise for him, especially since he and Leif were starting to get along.

Luckily, I didn't have to think about it for too much longer, because Doriane came running up to me with a little plate with a piece of fancy-looking white cake on it in one hand, and Hugh in the other.  
"Eat some cake!" she exclaimed, handing it to me. "Then you can open your presents!"

"There are presents?" I asked.

"Are you crazy?" she asked. "Of course there are presents! And for goodness' sake, sit down!"

"Maybe you're the crazy one," I told her, laughing as I found a chair to sit down in.

People gathered around, each bringing one present or more.

"Open mine first!" Doriane cried, handing me a large, festively wrapped box.

"Dori," Luna said. "You're like a small child at a birthday party." I smiled, and started unwrapping the package.

This went on for a good amount of time, until there was just one box left. I had received everything from stuffed animals, to baby toys, to diapers, to baby bottles.

"This one's from me," Mom said, pushing the box toward me. "Be careful, it's heavy." I opened the box, and my immediate reaction was utter confusion. I pulled out a strange machine with some tubes with funnels on the end attached to it.

"Mom," I said. "What in the world is this?"

"It's a breast pump," Mom replied, as though those two words together sounded perfectly normal. "It makes filling up baby bottles a lot easier."

"Um…thanks, Mom," I said. I knew I should have expected the weirdest gift possible from her.

"Try it on, Leona!" Doriane said jokingly.

"I would," I replied. "But I have no idea how it stays on!" I picked up the tubes, and put the funneled ends against my chest.

"You got it right!" Mom exclaimed.

Just then, the door opened up. I turned to see who it was, and I was mortified upon realizing it was Leif, and that I hadn't removed the funnels from my boobs.

"What the hell?" Leif asked, almost sounding frightened. "Is _this_ what people do at baby showers?" Everyone started to laugh, and I couldn't help but do the same.

"Leify!" Eunice cried. "Such indecent thoughts!"  
"I can't help it!" Leif protested. "What else am I supposed to think when I see something like that?"

"Party crasher!" Doriane shouted.

"I think we're probably done here anyway," Luna said.

"In that case," I said. "Thank you all so much for doing this. My only question is, how am I going to get all this stuff home?"

"We'll find a way to get it there," Mom said. "For now, why don't you just walk home with Leif?"

"Okay," I said. "Thanks again!" Everybody crowded around for a hug, wishing me the best.

As Leif and I left the building, I thought for a second about everything that had happened that day. With all the excitement, I hadn't really stopped to think about how much they cared. And as much as I tried not to, I burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Leif said, pulling me close to him.

"Nothing," I replied. "I'm just…happy." Leif looked at me and smiled.

"I thought so," he said. "You have great friends."

And I knew that what he said was true.

**Meh, not too happy with that ending, but hey, it's something.**

**Aaaand I got cast in a Fruits Basket fandub. Again. Normally, I'd be happy, but I got cast as Kyoko. Bleh. She's only awesome in the manga. Maybe I'll change my mind somehow...  
**


	13. The Nursery

The Holiday following the baby shower, I was kind of out of ideas of things to do. Leif had the day off work, but he had been working like a dog during the week, and he was sore from all of the exercise. So, by early afternoon, Leif and I were exchanging massages.

"You've got to learn not to lift the axe with your back," I told him as I massaged his shoulders.

"Ah!" he cried as I hit a spot that must have been especially sore. "I know, it's just a bad habit. Now turn around, you've been going on too long." I sighed.

"All right," I said. My back was killing me. I turned around, and let out a sigh as he started pressing on my lower back. I heard him laugh, and he rested his chin on my shoulder.

"It sounded like you liked that," he said. I smiled.

"You have the shortest attention span ever," I told him. "I'm sore, you're sore, and I am so not in the mood for _that._" He let out a little whimper. "Don't even try it."

"Okay, okay," he said. He started massaging me again.

The baby started kicking, and I groaned in irritation.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Is our little guy trying to dance like daddy?" He laid a hand softly on my stomach.

"He's not so little anymore," I muttered.

"Hm," Leif hummed. "He needs some work on that time step."

"You're ridiculous," I said, laughing a little.

"Oh," he said, hugging me, and giving me a gentle kiss. "Am I?"

"Yes," I replied. "You absolutely are." My eyes wandered, and I frowned as I noticed all of the baby gifts in the corner of the bedroom. "What are we going to do with all this stuff?" He kissed me again.

"Why are you worried about it?" he asked.

"Because I don't want it piling up," I replied. I thought for a second. "Why don't we decorate the nursery? Before we know it, he'll be here, and we should at least try to get the room ready."

"Okay," Leif said. "Why not?" He let go of me and stood up. I got up slowly, and we walked over to the pile of stuff.

I looked at Leif, and I could tell we were thinking the same thing: neither of us had any idea of where to start.

"Why don't you carry the lighter stuff?" Leif asked. "I'll carry anything heavy."

"Sounds good," I replied. "We could always start with the crib. Your mom gave us some really cute bedding for it." I picked up the bag that contained it, and Leif smiled.

"Typical Mom," Leif said. "That's the exact same style of bedding my nursery had."

"How do you even remember that?" I asked.

"Because of the duckies, I bet!" a voice said from behind us. I jumped.

"Eunice!" Leif cried, turning around. "Why the hell do you always sneak up on us like that?"

"Because," Eunice replied. "I need to make sure you're not getting into any trouble. And you didn't let me finish! Leify loved his duckies. He had a ducky theme to his room forever!"

"Not forever!" Leif protested. "And I only had it for so long because Mom and Dad said it was too expensive to redecorate! And why are you even talking about it?"

"I remember," Eunice continued, not seeming to acknowledge Leif's discontent. "You used to love baths, just because you could play with your ducks in the tub! And you always cried so hard when Mom said you couldn't take them with you to go night-night."

"Are you listening to a word I say?" Leif asked.

"And your ducky song!" Eunice said happily. "You and your tone-deaf ducky song! You would sit in the bathtub and splash around, and you would sing it over and over! 'Duckies, duckies, I love duckies! They're my best friends in the-'"

"Jeez, Eunice!" Leif cried. "Stop it already! It's embarrassing!"

"I think it's cute," I told him.

"Maybe you do now," Eunice said. "But maybe when little Raguna gets his daddy's ducky obsession, you'll change your mind."

"Who told you that?" I asked.

"There were pieces of paper on the kitchen table," Eunice said. "And they all had that written on them a million times." I sighed.

"Just don't tell anyone," I said.

"I won't," she replied. "Oh, but his grandpa is going to be so happy!"

"That's why we're keeping it a _surprise!_" Leif told her.

"No need to yell," she said. "I won't tell a soul, especially not Raguna." She paused. "Well, it looks like everything is under control here. I'll be going now!" She started walking back out into the hallway with a slight spring in her step.

"Well," I said. "Let's get this nursery set up."

"Okay," Leif said. He picked up a huge box, and we started carrying everything to the nursery.

I started unpacking the box with the bedding in it, and I lifted the tiny mattress out of the crib. I figured it would be just like making a normal bed, so I went about it that way.

"What are all these books for?" Leif asked. "He won't even be able to read!"

"Selphy _did _go a little crazy," I said. "But still, they say it's good to read to a baby."

"I'll leave that up to you," Leif said. I smiled, remembering something my parents had told me.

"My parents read to me all the time when I was little," I said. "And around the time I started talking, I started learning the words to the stories. When I was supposed to be sleeping, I would climb out of my crib and take a book that I knew, and I would start reciting the words. I wasn't actually reading, because I couldn't, but I remembered the sounds and the order of the words."

"You started your acting career early," he said. He sighed. "I wonder if we'll be able to tell if Gunie has any special talents." I turned around.

"Gunie?" I asked. Leif blushed.

"Sorry," he said. "I wasn't thinking. It's easier to spell than Raguna, but I shouldn't be so lazy about it." I smiled.

"I think it's kind of cute," I said. "And it solves the problem of mixing up the two Ragunas."

"Well," Leif said. "In that case, I'm happy I could help. Now, let's keep setting everything up. Do we have a bookshelf for all this?"

"Not right now," I said. "But I'm sure we could find one somewhere, or I could ask Dad to build us one."

"Okay," Leif said. "I'll move this box back into the bedroom, then." He picked the box up, and carried away.

He reappeared in the nursery quickly, holding an ornate box in his hands. I recognized it as a music box that was a present Doriane's mom.

"Who gave you this?" he asked.

"Candy did," I replied.

"It plays a really cool song," Leif said. He turned the key a few times, then opened the box.

"Now that I think about it," I said. "I know this song. It's said to heal a person who's sick or hurt."

"Huh," Leif said. "We're all safe then, I guess." I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Then, I thought of something.

"I hope he looks like you," I said.

"What?" he asked. "Why?"

"Because you're so handsome," I replied. "It would be a shame for him not to." Leif smiled at me. "And if he doesn't end up looking like you, hopefully he'll inherit your facial expressions."

"You're starting to scare me," he said jokingly.

"I'm serious," I said. "The way you only use one side of your mouth to smile or frown…it would look adorable on a little boy."

"Well," Leif said, coming up to hug me. "I think that anyone who looked like you, boy or girl, would be beautiful."

I rested my head on his shoulder for a minute, just happy that he loved me. He kissed me, and then smiled again.

"We should keep setting up the nursery," he said. "But that was a nice little distraction."

"Leif," I said. He turned to look at me again, but I couldn't think of anything to say at first. "Thank you." I wasn't quite sure what I was thanking him for, when I thought about it, since there was so much. I was afraid that it sounded awkward.

"You're welcome," he said, and that response took away all of my worries.

**Well, I apologize for not uploading stuff. I've been so busy!**

**The ending of this chapter was kind of blah, but I thought the rest of it was okay. And Eunice makes me LOL. In the game, she talks about how much she wished she could have a little brother or sister, and any good older sister embarrasses her younger brother. It's an unwritten law in the unwritten book of unwritten sibling laws. XD**

**Anyway, I'll try to upload more frequently now, especially on One Family of Earthmates. If I keep working on this one forever, Trampoli's "current" situation will never get any better!**

**Remember to be nice and leave reviews.  
**


	14. Worries

Spring was coming, and Trampoli was starting to come to life again. Grass was just starting to poke through the thinning layer of snow on the ground, and it was getting warmer. Still, I felt like a shut-in, because Leif wouldn't let me leave the house by myself while there was any ice on the ground, and he worked during the day. Even though I protested, I still felt that he was right to some degree, because my waistline was expanding even more. Month six had already started, and it showed.

I had taken to sewing instead of knitting, since we found out that Gunie would be born sometime in the Summer. In fact, the official due date was expected to be the hottest day of the year, and Doriane's opinion on the matter didn't help at all.

"Ooh, I'm sorry," she said, when I told her the due date. She had come over for tea, bringing Hugh along with her. Irwen had also come, but Luna was running late.

"What?" I asked.

"Summer is the _worst _time of year to be pregnant," she explained. "And the fact that you're going to be huge by that time won't help at all."

"Well," I said. "Hopefully he won't be late, then." She turned her head, and her eyes widened. "Hughie!" She got up from the couch, and started running over to where Hugh had been. I suddenly realized why she was panicking: Hugh had grabbed a poker from the fireplace. She took it out of his chubby hands, and put it back where it had been.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I should have been watching."

"It's not your fault, Leelee," she replied. "Now that he's really started walking, he's really fast, and he can get into anything. We had to move everything in the lower kitchen cabinets because he can open them now, and he steals crackers and stuff when nobody's looking."

"I wonder where Luna is," Irwen said quietly. "She's usually on time or early for everything."

"She'll be along soon," Doriane said. "She's really close to having that baby, and Rex is probably nervous about the ice on the ground." I smiled.

"He seems like such a tough guy," I said.

"Well," Doriane said. "You know he's just a giant teddy bear, especially when it comes to Luna. He's the complete opposite of Brodik."

"True," I said.

"It's amazing that Rex turned out so well," Irwen said. "Considering he has no idea who his mother is, and his father is an absolute jerk."

"I had to yell at Brodik the other day," Doriane said. "Well, along with everyone else down at Erik and Lara's. I had brought Hugh over to play with Helena, and Brodik stopped by to ask Rex for something. I don't even remember what it was, though, because his language was quite colorful. So, we all got tired of it and told him to stop. I can't risk Hugh learning that kind of language, now that he's talking more."

"I'm surprised Brodik didn't lose his temper," I said. "He doesn't exactly like being told what to do." I paused, and looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost four, so Luna was already a half-hour late. "Where is Luna?"

The door opened, and Leif walked in, home from work. His face was red, and he was sweating like crazy. Even though he was getting stronger, I knew from experience that farm work was hard.

"Don't you dare sit on my couch," I told him jokingly.

"Hello to you, too," he said, giving me a tired smile. "Why aren't you all with Luna at the clinic?"

"Luna's at the clinic?" Irwen, Doriane, and I asked, almost in unison.

"Yeah," Leif replied. "Their baby is a couple weeks early, but so far, she's doing fine. That's what Mist said, at least."

"We have to go see her!" Irwen exclaimed.

"Are you crazy?" Doriane asked. "Lara kicked us out the first time, and she kicked you all out when I was having Hughie!" She looked at Leif. "You'll be lucky if she lets _you_ in for Leona!"

"And I'm fine if she doesn't," I said.

"I'm not," Leif said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him. "Do you _want _your son to know that you passed out while he was being born?"

"I won't pass out," he replied. "I'm tougher than I look."

"It's not necessarily just going to be from the blood and stuff," Doriane said. "Even _I _found it overwhelming when Hugh was born, and I was the one doing all of the work. It's just so unbelievable, but there's a lot going on. That's usually why people pass out."

"By the way," Irwen said. "How long has she been in labor?"

"Mist said about six hours so far," Leif replied. "I don't know how long it usually takes, though."

"Since this one will be her second," Doriane replied. "It shouldn't be much longer."

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Leif said. He walked over to the door, and opened it.

"It's a boy," I heard Rex say.

"Congrats!" Leif told him.

"I heard that Dori, Irwen, and Leona were here," Rex said. "I figured they would want to see the baby." He turned to look at us. "Actually, Luna specifically asked for you to come over."

"Really?" Doriane asked, standing up with Hugh in her arms. "Come on, let's go!"

"Hold on," I said. "I have to get up first." Leif took my hand, and I stood up.

We left the house, and started walking to the clinic.

"Rex," I said. "Aren't you going to give us any details?"

"Well," Rex said. "His name's Sebastian, and he weighs eight and a half pounds."

"Wow," Irwen said. "That's pretty big for a preemie."

"He takes after my side," Rex said, smiling. "So he's bound to be a big guy. He's done nothing but scream for the last ten minutes."

"Ah, a problem child already!" Doriane said jokingly.

We arrived at the clinic, and we went inside. I could hear the sound of a screaming baby, and it was _loud_. Lara was standing there, holding Helena in her arms.

"Ah, you're here!" she exclaimed. "Come on back. Luna's waiting to see you!" We started walking back, but Brodik came marching in front of us.

"Hey," Brodik growled at Rex. "Make that little punk ass baby shut his freaking mouth!"

"There's nothing I can do, Dad," Rex replied. "He's a baby, that's what he does."

"Don't smart off to me," Brodik ordered, before storming out of the hallway. Lara sighed, and opened the door to the room where Luna was.

Luna was lying in a hospital bed, and she looked like she was going to burst into tears as she desperately tried to wrap a squirming baby in a blanket.

"Oh, dear, let me help you," Lara said calmly. She handed Helena to me, and I had no idea why. She went over to Luna, and tightly wrapped Sebastian in his blanket.

"Thanks, Mom," Luna said.

"He's a little escape artist," Lara said. "But he won't get out again." She turned to look at us. "You can come in, it's all right."

Doriane and Irwen went running up, but I took my time. Even though Sebastian had quieted down a little, I still felt a little nervous to get anywhere near him.

"He looks just like Rex!" Doriane exclaimed.

"He looks mad," Irwen said quietly.

"You okay?" Leif asked me.

"Yeah," I replied. I started to walk toward my group of friends, and I tried to get a good look at Sebastian. Yes, both Dori and Irwen were correct; the kid looked so angry his head might fly off.

"Who wants to hold him?" Luna asked.

I avoided the idea of holding Sebastian for as long as I could, until Luna asked why I hadn't taken a turn, I really had no choice.

"Come on, Leona," Leif said. "If I could do it, you'll be able to."

I took the baby from his arms, and sat down in a nearby chair. I looked right at Sebastian, who had calmed down a little bit.

"Hi Sebastian," I said. He really was cute when he was being quiet.

All of a sudden, though, he brought out his little arm from under the blankets, and, more quickly than I could imagine, something scraped my face.

"Ow!" I cried. There was a collective gasp.

"Did he scratch you?" Luna asked. I nodded, still completely shocked. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Leona! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm fine."

But somehow, I wasn't fine. I stood up, holding Sebastian, who had started to scream again, and I handed him back to Luna.

"Excuse me for a second," I said. "The bathroom calls." I smiled through my lie, and walked quickly out of the room, and outside.

I started to cry, and the tears stung the scratch on my face. If most babies were like Sebastian, I didn't know if I could handle that.

"Leona," Leif said from behind me. I quickly turned around.

"Hi," I said. "How did you know I was out here?"

"Because it seems like something you would do," he said, smiling at me. "Are you okay?"

"No," I whimpered, shaking my head. I started crying again, and Leif came up to me and hugged me.

"It's okay," he said. "It's just a scratch. It'll heal."

"It's not that," I replied. "I'm just worried. What if…what if Gunie is like that? Screaming all the time and thrashing around? I don't know what…what I would do! I don't think I can handle that!" I buried my face in his shoulder, and he rubbed my back.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "It's going to be fine. I mean…I'll be there." I looked up at him.

"Thank you," I said. He kissed me on the forehead.

"It's chilly out," he said. "Do you want to go home?"

"Yeah," I replied. "But…I kind of don't want to tell Luna I just had a panic attack."

"I'll tell her," Leif said. "I'm sure she'll understand." He started walking back to the clinic. "And don't go anywhere. I don't want you to fall."

I smiled. Leif's overprotective behavior was so cute. And as if that wasn't enough, he turned around.

"I'm not kidding when I say you'll be a good mother," he said. "After all, you managed to tame me."

**D'awww...**

**So yeah, Sebastian's in the picture. Who can spot the subtle foreshadowing? I'll give you a hint, it's something Lara says, and it pertains to chapter 28 of Viva.**

**And for those of you who are getting bored by all the happiness and peace...have I got a surprise for you. I think so right now, anyway. I'm not sure yet. I still haven't decided what's going to trigger this event.**


	15. Caught In the Act

The snow and ice melted away quickly, and soon enough, Leif permitted me to go outside alone again. It was nice, since I could leave to shop for groceries and visit my friends while Leif was at work. I could even go visit him during the day.

"Let's go eat lunch outside," I said to him on a particularly warm Holiday. I had already made some food, but for some reason, eating inside on such a nice day seemed almost criminal.

"Sure," he replied. "We should enjoy it while we can."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's supposed to snow tonight," he said. "That's what your dad said, anyway."

"Snow?" I asked. "It never snows in Spring!"

"I'm just repeating what he said," Leif said, shrugging. "But he said the weather has been pretty weird lately, so who really knows?" I laughed.

"Why are we even talking about the weather?" I asked. He smiled down at me.

"I don't really know," he replied. "Anyway, I'll help you pack up the food, and we can go sit on that bench by the pond."

"Sounds perfect," I said, walking over to the kitchen counter. I heard Leif grab a basket to use, and I started wrapping the food into cloth napkins.

"You seem…insanely happy," Leif said.

"Am I not usually?" I asked him, putting some of the wrapped-up food items into the basket.

"I'm not saying _that_," he said. "But it's kind of nice to see you so energetic. It's like you're a different person. In a good way, though."

"Enjoy it while you can," I said with a laugh. "Tomorrow, I might be an emotional wreck."

"Okay, then," he said. I could almost see the smile creeping onto his face.

"You're such a pervert," I said. "I didn't mean _that _when I told you to 'enjoy it'."

"I know," he replied. "Now, let's go eat. By the pond, then?" I looked at him, and smiled.

"No," I replied. "Too many people pass through here. I'd like to go somewhere a little more…secluded." Leif blushed. "Oh, come on. You were the one suggesting it."

"I, well…outside?" he stammered.

"All right," I said, laughing at his sudden shyness. "We'll just eat, then. But let's go somewhere more peaceful, maybe the observatory or something."

"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath.

We started the somewhat long walk to the observatory, Leif being overprotective as usual. He would freak out whenever there was so much as a stick or a rock on the path.

"What are you so nervous about?" I asked.

"I don't want you to trip and fall," he said.

"I'm not that clumsy," I said. "I've had a lifetime of defending myself in dungeons." He sighed.

We reached the top of the observatory, and we sat down in the grass. Leif started taking some of the food out of the basket, and we started to eat.

"Your cooking is reflecting your good mood," Leif said, smiling at me. "It's extra good today."

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment," I said, smiling back at him. I took a bite of my sandwich, but I couldn't help but get the feeling that Leif was looking at me the whole time. I finally stopped eating, and looked over at him, confirming my previous thoughts.

"You know," he said, inching closer to me. "Outside _does_ seem like a nice place to-"

"Eat your food," I told him, but he completely ignored me. He grabbed my wrists in one hand, and pinned me against one of the cliffs surrounding the observatory. He kissed me, and I was ashamed to think that I really was falling for his rough attitude that day.

"I'll be careful," he whispered.

"I should hope so," I replied, trying to stay calm. "And let my hands go. There's no way I'll be able to do anything without them." He let go of my wrists, and kissed me again. I ran my hands through his hair, knowing that he liked that, but more importantly, that it drove him _crazy_.

"Are you…sure you're okay…doing this…here?" he asked in between heavy breaths and kisses.

"Absolutely," I replied. I felt him start undoing my shirt, but then, he stopped.

"You _are _scared," he said. "Your heart is pounding."

"Well," I said. "What do you expect? We were making out."

"But I can tell you're nervous," he said. "I don't want you to feel like you have to leave your comfort zone just for me." He wrapped his arms around me. "I love you, Leona."

We stayed just like that for a while, but I heard Leif's stomach growl. I looked up at him, and he was blushing like crazy.

"Ah," he said. "S-Sorry…"

"Don't apologize!" I exclaimed. "You should have said you were hungry. Now, we should eat." Leif nodded, and we went back to eating, as though nothing had happened.

"Oh, I forgot," Leif said. "I have something to do at the inn today." He looked over at me. "But you can't come with me." I raised an eyebrow.

"Is it for my birthday?" I asked. "I didn't think you'd remember."

"Maybe," he replied. "Just cooperate with me. You're going to be happy in the end."

"All right," I said.

We finished eating soon enough, and we started back home. Leif walked me to the door, and instructed me once again not to follow him. I agreed, of course, and I tried to occupy myself with a book.

But before long, I had finished the book, and Leif hadn't come back. It was getting close to three.

_Whatever it is, _I thought. _It must be something huge._ So, I decided to try some sewing to keep myself busy.

I was halfway finished with a pair of pants for Gunie when I started to worry. But what was there to worry about? It was starting to get dark, but I figured he was still just preparing for whatever he was going to give me for my birthday. Finally, I decided to ignore his request not to follow him to the inn, and I got up from my chair, and left for the inn.

I worried more and more as I walked to the inn. When I got there, Rita, Turner, and Eunice were nowhere to be found. I heard some activity coming from upstairs, though, I started walking that way. As I got closer, I heard that the noise was coming from Leif's bedroom. I walked quietly toward the door, which was slightly open. I listened, wondering what in the world was going on.

It didn't take me long to figure it out, though.

"Stop," Leif said, sounding strained. "I can't do this!"

"Oh, yes you can," a woman's voice said. I recognized it right away as Leif's former lover's voice. The lover that had caused us to break up.

"No!" Leif cried. "I, ah…"

"Yes, that's right," the woman's voice purred. "You _do _like that."

My eyes were filling with tears. As much as I knew what was going on, I had to see it with my own eyes. So, I pushed the door open completely. Sure enough, Leif was on the floor, his back to me, and the woman's face was between his spread-out legs. Leif turned his head, and his eyes were wide and his face was flushed.

"No," I whispered, tears spilling down my cheeks.

"Leona," he said. "No, this isn't what it looks like!"

"What do you take me for, Leif?" I asked. I had started sobbing by then. "I hate you!" I started to run away, back down the stairs, and as far away from him as I could get.

"No!" Leif cried. "Leona, please! I can explain!" Shortly after, I heard him start following me down the stairs.

But I didn't want him to explain. I wanted him out of my life! I wondered why I trusted him in the first place, why I had forgiven him. I kept running as he called after me, and I ran all the way home, locking the door behind me.

He pounded on the door, crying my name over and over, while I ran back toward the bedroom. I lay face down on the bed, and I started to cry even harder.

I would be sleeping alone that night, and I wasn't sure if I cared or not.

**NOOOOOO!**

**First off, I want to thank my longtime friend and reader Gabi123 for moral support and filling in plot holes for this chapter.**

**Second, sorry for anybody who got uncomfortable near the end of this chapter, but honestly, it needed to be something really scandalous.**

**I don't really have any other commentary, other than the fact that I've been lazy lately. But then again, it's break. XD**


	16. Pathetic Fallacy

I was surrounded by a field full of snow. The sky was gray, and the snow came down gently. I could hear the faint sound of a piano, playing something beautiful.

"Where am I…?" I murmured. I looked around. There was nothing but open, snow-covered space all around me. I realized I was dressed in warm clothes, but even still, it was freezing cold all around me.

Suddenly, I looked directly in front of me and gasped as I saw a distant figure standing in the snow. I could tell right away that it was a child, though I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl.

"Hey!" I called. The child didn't move, so I started running toward them. I quickly reached the child, who didn't seem to notice me at first.

"Hello," the child replied. Something in the voice made me realize right away that I was talking to a young boy.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked. "Where are your parents?" He laughed.

"You don't think a six-month-old can play out here by himself?" the boy asked.

"You're in the middle of nowhere," I replied. "There's nothing around for miles. And how can you be six months old?" The little boy looked up at me, but his face was covered, and he wore dark glasses that covered his eyes, and a hood over his head that made it impossible to see his hair.

"You of all people should know," he said. "Mom."

I gasped.

"Gunie?" I whispered.

"I guess you didn't think you'd be meeting me so early, huh," he said. "And I'm sorry about how hard I kicked you that one time, but I needed a decent name." I smiled.

"It's okay," I replied. "It's nice to finally meet you. Why is your face covered?"

"Some things are better as surprises," Gunie replied. "Besides, you'll have plenty of time to look at me once you actually meet me." He paused. "But while you're here, do you want to make a snowman?"

"I'd love to," I said.

Gunie started forming a snowball with his mitten-covered hands, and I did the same.

"Why is it snowing here?" I asked. Gunie set his snowball on the ground.

"Pathetic fallacy," he replied. "It means that the environment is reflecting my emotions." I was taken aback.

"How in the world do you know that?" I asked.

"Well," he said. "Once I start reading, I'll like it a lot."

"But…why are you so sad?" I asked. "If it's this snowy and cold, you're sad, right?"

"Because," he said. "I can see what's going to happen to me. And…Dad's cold, too. I'm part of him, so I can feel what he's feeling, sometimes." He paused. "He's really sad right now."

I sighed.

"It's really complicated," I told him. "And I'm sorry you're stuck in this situation, but I don't think you really understand." I took his little hands in mine, but he quickly let go, and slapped me across the face. Even more surprisingly, it actually _hurt_.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"I'm not stupid, Mom!" he shouted. "I _do _understand! I understand a hell of a lot more than you do right now!"

"Watch your language!" I told him. Suddenly, he curled up into a ball, and I heard him start crying.

"You need to help Dad," he sobbed. "He'll die if you don't."

"Gunie," I said softly. I laid my hand on his back, but he flinched.

"I have to go," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because if you don't wake up now," he said ominously. "Then Dad won't wake up _ever_." He started to run away, and I got up and chased after him.

"Come back!" I called. I tried to go faster, but I seemed to be slowing down, and Gunie was a lot faster that I was.

"Wake up, Mom!" he cried. "_Wake up!_"

At that exact moment, my eyes opened, and I realized that I was at home. It really had been just a dream. My eyes filled with tears, and I started to cry.

But then, I remembered Gunie's plea to save Leif from whatever it was that was going to kill him. If he really had been trying to tell me something, then there had to be a good reason for it. I got dressed quickly, and went outside.

As Leif had told me the day before, it had snowed overnight. I looked down at the ground to see if the snow was deep, but instead, I was terrified to see something just in front of my feet.

At first, I couldn't tell what it was, since there was a coat over it. But then, it hit me.

"Leif's coat," I murmured. "Oh my God!" I bent down and pulled the coat away, only to see Leif in his clothes from the day before, and he looked almost frozen. I was sure he was dead, but I checked his pulse, and I could feel a slow beating. I started crying, unsure of what to do.

By some miracle, though, I saw someone walking by.

"Help!" I cried. The figure turned to look at me, and I saw that it was Dad.

"Leona!" he cried, running toward me. "What happened?" As he came closer, he obviously saw what was going on.

"Dad…" I sobbed. Before I could say anything else, Dad picked Leif up off the ground, and started carrying him away.

"It's okay, Leona," he said. "He's going to be fine. We just have to get him to the clinic." I nodded, then picked Leif's coat up off the ground, and draped it over him to keep him warm. I followed Dad to the clinic, and wondered whether I had gone insane or not. Leif had cheated on me, and that time, it was for real. The only reason I wanted to help him at all was because of that dream.

We walked toward the clinic in silence, other than my occasional sobs. The walk in the snow seemed especially long, and it was just as Gunie had said in the dream – pathetic fallacy. The freezing cold had started to reflect my emotions.

When we arrived at the clinic, Lara gasped upon seeing us.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He…he's been out in the snow," I whimpered. "And I think…I think he's been out there all night."

"I won't ask questions until later," she said. "So, for now, let's get him in blankets and near the fire, and I'll see how he's doing once he's warmed up a bit."

"Thank you, Lara," Dad said, putting Leif onto a nearby gurney. "Leona, would you like me to stay here with you?"

"No," I replied. "I mean, you have to make sure the spring crops made it through the storm."

"As much as I care about the crops," he said. "I care about my own daughter a thousand times more." I sat down, and Dad followed.

"It must have been pretty bad," Dad said. "I mean, for you to kick him out of the house and lock the doors."

"It _was _bad," I replied. "But…I don't want to go into detail. Not with you, anyway."

"Ah," he said. "It was _that_ kind of fight."

"Dad!" I cried.

"Well, you gave it away," he said. "But I won't pry."

"He cheated on me," I blurted out.

"Oh," Dad said quietly. "Was it with that woman he left you for?"

"The first time was just a misunderstanding," I replied. "But this time, I saw it with my own eyes."

"Huh," Dad said. "Well, as horrible of a thing as that is, he must have been pretty sorry."

"I know," I replied. "The baby told me so. He came to me in dream. He was the one who told me Leif was outside in the first place."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," he said. "Both your Mom and I have had dreams in which we've communicated with people or spirits."

Dad stayed and talked with me for a while, but I couldn't keep my mind off Leif. To some degree, what Dad had said about Leif being sorry made sense, and it was bothering me.

Finally, Lara came into the room, a smile on her face.

"He's going to be fine," she said. "In fact, he's awake. And he wants to see you, Leona."

**Cliffhanger!**

**I really liked writing the first half of this chapter, and I actually came up with the title for it right away. And it was nice to finally see the little guy in this story, right?**

**So next, we'll find out about whether or not Leif is a dirtbag! Stay tuned. Same bat-time, same bat-channel. XD  
**


	17. Forgiveness

I stood up.

"He wants to see…me?" I asked.

"That's right," Lara replied, smiling. "So please, follow me."

We walked down the hallway, and to my surprise, we went back toward a room that wasn't part of the clinic.

"Why are we going back here?" I asked.

"Well," Lara replied. "There aren't any rooms in the clinic with fireplaces, so we had to take him over to Erik's and my room, since it isn't being used at the moment."

"Oh," I said.

She opened the door to the room, and I saw that Leif was lying on a mattress in front of the fireplace with a number of blankets covering him. He was asleep, but his face looked far from peaceful. His brow was furrowed, and he was frowning.

"I'll leave you two," she said. "Let me know if you need help." She shut the door, and I sighed heavily.

"She said you were awake," I murmured, once I knew Lara was gone. Leif stirred, but didn't wake up. I smiled down at him, since his face had started looking more peaceful. His hair had gotten a little longer, especially just in front of his eyes, so I brushed it out of the way. God, his hair was so soft…

"Leona," he said, his voice hoarse. I quickly pulled my hand away.

"Y-Yeah," I stammered. "I'm here."

His eyes opened all the way, and he looked up at me. He stared for a few seconds, not saying anything, but I soon noticed that his eyes were filling with tears. It didn't take long for those tears to start spilling from his eyes.

"I didn't want to," he said, sounding choked up. "I didn't want her to do it, Leona. But…she somehow got into my room, and when I went in there to get your present…she went straight for my…" He grimaced, as though he didn't want to finish the sentence. "And I tried to get her to stop, I really did, but she…she wouldn't let go. Literally, I mean. And I was taught never to physically harm a woman. But God, I just wanted her away from me." He looked away. "And then, you walked in. I felt horrible, worse than I've ever felt in my life. So I went after you, but I never knew you were so fast. And you wouldn't let me in the house, so I waited outside the front door." He sighed. "And while I wasn't paying attention…she attacked me. I mean, there's really no other proof that my broken rib, but she started kicking me, saying what an idiot I was for letting you see. I swear, she's crazy. Eventually, she got bored and went off, but I stayed outside the house, all through the night. It was really bitter cold out there. But I don't really care about that. It hurts more that you don't trust me. But you still saved me anyway." He paused. "So, thank you. And I'm sorry for hurting you."

I looked down at him, and I could see there was so much honesty and remorse in his eyes. He really was sorry! I leaned down and kissed him.

"You idiot," I said. "You stayed outside all night just to apologize to me?"

"Yeah," he replied. "So…you're not mad anymore?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "Gunie was right…"

"What?" Leif asked.

"I met him in a dream," I said. "And he told me that you were outside, and that I needed to save you." Leif smiled, then put a hand on to stomach.

"Well," he said. "Thank you, too." I felt that familiar motion in my abdomen.

"Great," I said. "Now you've got him moving around."

Leif started trying to get up out of his cocoon of blankets.

"Hey," I said. "What are you doing?"

"I need to get something out of my coat," he said.

"No," I told him. "You need to stay right here and keep warm."

"In that case," he said. "Will you bring it to me? It's over on that chair." He pointed to an armchair in the corner of the room, and I stood up to go get his coat. As I picked it up, I noticed that there was something in one of the pockets.

"Here you go," I said, handing him the coat.

He cleared his throat.

"Leona," he said. "In the last several months, we've gone through a lot of emotional turmoil together, and I caused a lot of it. But you've managed to make me grow up, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. And if you end up deciding that you want to stay with me, then I hope you'll accept this gift from me." He took a small box out of his pocket, and I gasped as I realized what he was doing. He pushed the blankets covering him away, and he shifted so he was on one knee. He opened the box, and inside, there was a beautiful diamond ring. "Leona, I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?"

I was astonished, and I almost burst into tears. That was the reason he took so long at the inn! Not only did he want to get the ring, but he wanted to make his proposal special. And that honesty in his eyes was there again, as was the smile on his face. But that smile started to fade the longer I took to answer.

"Yes," I told him. "I'll marry you, Leif." Upon hearing those words, the tears started spilling from my eyes, and he hugged me.

"I love you," he said, slipping the ring onto my finger. It was a perfect fit.

"And I love you," I told him. He kissed me, and I hugged him tighter.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Turner, Rita, and Eunice stepped into the room. Leif pulled away from me, blushing.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted.

"We heard you were here!" Rita exclaimed. "And we wanted to see how our little boy was doing."

"Are you hurt, Leify?" Eunice asked, running over to us. "Are you sick? What happened?" I held up my left hand.

"Everything's okay now," I said. Eunice gasped, and her face lit up.

"Yay!" she exclaimed. "Leify, you did it!"

"He proposed?" Turner asked, sounding astonished. Eunice grabbed Leif by the arm, yanked him upward, and, to my surprise, lifted him up and spun him around.

"My little baby brother's getting _married!_" she squealed.

"Let go of me!" Leif cried. "How in the world are you so strong?"

I started laughing. Seeing my fiancé being spun around like a small child was just too much for me to handle.

"Put me down!" Leif cried. Eunice finally listened to him, and she set him down.

"We'll leave you two alone now," Rita said, obviously hinting to her husband and daughter that they needed to leave the room and stop embarrassing Leif.

Once they were gone, Leif sat down next to me, and kissed me.

"Sorry you had to see that," he said. I smiled.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed," I told him. He blushed again, but he took my hands and held them.

"Happy birthday, Leona," he said.

**Hooray, they're back together! And I'm thinking this time, it's going to be for good.**

**I'm kind of loving being on break. More writing time! But my external disc drive is broken, so no Sims 3. :(**

**Anyway, please review!  
**


	18. Mommy and Daddy

The news of the engagement spread like wildfire across town, and everybody seemed to be going crazy over it like Leif and I were royalty. It was stressful, and I was afraid that I would lose my mind, if I hadn't already lost it.

I had gone to get groceries, but on the way there, and on the way back, I was bombarded with questions and suggestions about what to do for the wedding. It was driving me crazy.

"Leona, what's wrong?" Leif asked as soon as I walked into the house. "You look like you're going to cry." I pursed my lips, but as hard as I tried to hold back tears, I started crying anyway. He rushed over to me and hugged me tightly.

"They…they won't stop…talking," I sobbed.

"Talking about what?" he whispered.

"About…the wedding," I told him. "It's…it's putting so much pressure on me!" I paused. "I…I know they don't mean to."

"No," Leif said. "They really don't. They're just curious. But what are they saying to you that's bothering you so much?"

"The one thing that really gets to me," I said. "Is when they ask about the date."

"The date?" Leif asked.

"Well," I said. "They…they ask if we're getting married before or after…" I placed a hand on my stomach, and Leif kissed me on the forehead.

"That's up to us," he said.

"I know," I said, sighing. "But the answer to that question is always 'I don't know'! On one hand, if we get married before, I'll be huge, but he'll have no shame about being born to an unmarried couple! If we get married after, though, we'll have to take care of a baby, but…" I couldn't bring myself to say my real thoughts.

"But what?" he asked quietly.

"At least you'll be able to have a beautiful bride," I said. "I know you always say I'm beautiful, but nobody else will think so. Not when I'm enormously pregnant. But I just want to do what's best for our little boy, and I don't want him to be embarrassed that his parents weren't married when he was born. And if it doesn't embarrass him, he'll at probably start asking the questions about where babies come from, and he'll start early!" I paused. "He's _really _smart, Leif, and I don't want that to destroy the fact that he's an innocent child. But still, I want to be able to get married looking and feeling beautiful, not having heartburn and taking off my shoes because my ankles are swollen!"

"You're crazy," he said.

"I have every right to be crazy!" I snapped back.

"No, I don't mean it like that," Leif explained. "First of all, if our son is a smart kid, it's probably not going to bother him too much, and besides, I honestly don't think people around here are that judgmental. Second, I'm sure if we took an anonymous poll of everyone in Trampoli as to whether or not you're a beautiful woman, I'm sure it would come back with one hundred percent agreement favoring you." He paused, and pulled me closer. "But it doesn't matter anyway what they think, unless you're sleeping with all of them, too." I laughed.

"How in the world did I _not _see that coming?" I asked him. "You dirty-minded, big-talking boy."

"Big-talking?" he asked.

"Well," I said. "You could have been a very good actor. Take the first couple times, for example. You'd say the dirtiest things beforehand, and then, when it was time for the real deal, you turned into a timid little 'nice guy'." He smiled devilishly.

"Now _that_," he said. "Is crossing a line that I don't think you want to cross. But please, explain."

"A reenactment, then," I said. I knew I would be able to have fun with that. "Ah! Leona, don't…not there! Ah, are you sure you want to do th…_ah_!" That last cry, though, was real because Leif somehow managed to pick me up, and he started carrying me off to the bedroom.

"You wanna bet?" he asked.

"Leif," I said. "I was joking. I think you're cute. And…my back is killing me." He groaned, and set me down.

"Sorry," he said. "I knew you were kidding. I was kidding too."

"Sure," I replied, smiling.

"Anyway," he said. "Your back is hurting? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to complain," I said, sitting down on the couch. Leif sat down next to me.

"It's not complaining," he said, scooting closer to me. "Well, it kind of is, I guess, but I don't mind. I should be taking care of you, not being uninvolved."

"In that case," I said, moving to sit on his lap. "Start with the lower back." I heard him laugh behind me, but he started pressing his knuckles into my lower back.

"You smell really nice," he said.

"It's cocoa butter," I told him. "I started using it the other day. I don't want to get stretch marks everywhere."

"Do you want me to use that?" he asked. I smiled.

"That actually sounds kind of nice," I said. "Maybe later, though."

"Okay," he said.

For awhile, neither of us said anything.

"I wanted to ask you something," Leif said.

"Ask away," I told him.

"That dream you had," he said. "When you met Gunie…did you see what he looked like?"

"No," I replied. "Other than the fact that he was a little boy, I couldn't tell anything about his appearance. His voice, though…"

"What about it?" Leif asked.

"I don't know," I said. "It just had a very nice timbre to it. It almost makes me think he'll be able to sing."

"Weird," Leif said. "Where in the world would he get that from?"

"Well," I said. "I can carry a tune somewhat, but I'm no virtuoso. But who knows, maybe one of us had an ancestor that could sing."

"Either way," Leif said. "I already know he's going to be a great kid." He stopped rubbing my back, and wrapped his arms around my stomach.

"You're so amazing," I said to him, placing my hands on top of his.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"I came in here ready to have a complete breakdown from stress," I said. "And now, I feel so much better, just because you're here."

"I'm happy to help anytime," he said.

"I know you are," I said, leaning back against him. I had relaxed quite a bit from the massage, and I felt a little tired.

To my embarrassment, though, my stomach growled.

"Hungry?" Leif asked.

"Yeah," I replied sheepishly. "I've wanted to eat cucumber sandwiches for the past three days."

"Aw," Leif said, hugging me. "Is Mommy getting cravings?"

"I guess so," I replied.

"Hey," he said, as if getting a brilliant idea. "Eunice is actually really good at making them!"

"I can make them too," I said.

"But it's Daddy's job to take care of Mommy when she's craving weird things," he said.

"Will you stop with this 'mommy and daddy' thing?" I asked.

"Wait here," Leif said. "I'll bring you some."

"You're not listening at all!" I exclaimed, laughing.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Eunice walked into the house with a tray of food in her hands.

"Eunice!" Leif exclaimed. "Leona needs cucumber sandwiches!"

"I know, silly!" Eunice told him. "She mentioned it yesterday, and I thought I'd bring you some tea and food that typically goes along with it."

"You told Eunice but not me?" Leif asked me.

"Well," I replied. "I didn't think she'd come over here with a full tea set!"

"Enjoy, you two!" Eunice told us, setting the tray on the kitchen table. She started to walk toward the door again, humming an upbeat tune as she left the house.

Leif smiled at me.

"You're really going to like having a sister-in-law like Eunice, aren't you?" he asked.

"Absolutely," I replied.

**Okay, so that was just fluff. But some fluff once in a while isn't so bad, right?**

**And the "mommy and daddy" thing proves that I have been watching Ouran High School Host Club WAY too much. XD**

**Also, I'm going to be in a small town in Wisconsin for the next week or so, and I don't know if I'll have WiFi. I'll have my computer, though. So maybe there will be a huge incoming of chapters when I get back. Yay!  
**


	19. Can't Take the Heat

As the weather got warmer, Leif was always exhausted whenever he got home from work, and each day, it seemed to get worse.

"It just means you're getting stronger," I told him one evening at dinner.

"I know," he said. "But it still kind of sucks to be in pain everywhere." Just then, I got an idea.

"Why don't we go to the hot spring?" I asked. "The one they found by the beach. It would be nice for both of us."

"That does sound nice," he said. "But what about you? You're already at seven months, and the heat might not be good."

"I'll be fine," I assured him. "A bath isn't going to kill me. And if something doesn't feel right, I'll tell you."

"And I'll be right there, of course," Leif added.

"No you won't," I told him.

"What?" he asked.

"People actually go to the hot spring," I said. "And if you're on the wrong side of the divider, I don't think people will approve of that." Leif didn't look as though he had changed his mind. "Look, what if my parents were there?"

"Okay, fine," Leif said. "We'll each stay in our respective sections."

We continued eating, and after Leif and I had washed our dishes, we went to the bedroom to get our swimsuits and some towels. But suddenly, I realized something that might cause a problem.

"Oh no," I said.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't think I have a swimsuit," I replied. "I don't have one that fits, at least."

"Are you sure?" he asked. I dug through my drawers a little more, until I found something that appeared to be a two-piece swimsuit.

I never felt comfortable wearing bikinis, because I didn't liked the way I looked in them. I had worn one once as a teenager, and I changed right out of it once everybody started staring at me. I wasn't exactly blessed in terms of genetics, either. Instead of getting Mom's twig-like figure, I had the stronger build of my dad. Apparently when that was translated into a female body, it resulted in curves. And to make things worse, there was obviously the issue of me being pregnant.

"Actually," I said to him. "I _do _have one, but there's no way I'm wearing it." I reluctantly held it up, and Leif's face lit up.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because nobody wants to see my enormous baby bump!" I replied. "And I'd feel embarrassed wearing such a tiny swimsuit!"

"Shush," Leif said. "I'm imagining you in that swimsuit. I need quiet in order to concentrate."

"Oh, fine," I muttered. "I'll wear it. But I'm not putting it on until we get to the hot spring."

"I didn't expect you to go parading around town in it," Leif said. "Although it would be kind of funny to see." I smacked him. "Ow."

"You deserved that," I said. "And do you have your swimsuit?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Now let's go. I'm sore."

We started the short walk to the beach.

"It's going to be nice being so close to the beach," Leif said. "Especially when it gets really hot."

"I guess so," I replied. "But that means I'll have to wear a swimsuit when I'm enormous."

"I don't think anyone will mind," he said, pulling me close to him. "I won't."

Once we got to the beach, I headed straight for the changing room, and I heard Leif go into the men's changing room shortly after. I changed into my swimsuit without much trouble, to my surprise, and after a short internal debate, I stepped outside.

I waited for a few minutes, and Leif didn't come out of the changing room.

_Hm, _I thought. _That's kind of weird. _Still, I waited, and Leif didn't come out.

"Are you okay in there?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm just having some trouble getting the swimsuit on."

"Do you need help?" I teased.

"No!" he cried.

"Leif," I said. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he replied. "On second thought, let's not take a bath."

"What?" I asked.

"Okay, fine!" he cried. "If you can do it, so can I."

The changing room door opened, and Leif hesitantly stepped out. As soon as he did, though, I felt my face get hot, and my jaw dropped. His swimsuit was so small, it could barely be considered a piece of clothing. Still, he looked _hot_. I could see every single one of his muscles, which had gotten even more toned than just a few weeks before.

"Don't stare," he said sheepishly. "I thought I'd join the tiny swimsuit club so you didn't feel alone." He paused, and I noticed that his face was bright red. "You look incredible in that, by the way." I smiled, and gave him a tight hug.

"You are _so_ sweet," I said. "Embarrassing yourself just to make me feel better…" I leaned up to whisper in his ear. "I think you just earned yourself a place in the women's side of the hot spring." I looked up at Leif, and he was smiling broadly, though he was still blushing.

I let go of him, and we walked over to the entrance of the hot spring. We opened the door, and Leif immediately did a cannonball to get into the water.

"How old are you?" I asked him, laughing. He brought his head above the surface, and shook his messy hair, splashing me in the process.

"Well," he replied. "I'm going to be twenty-one in a week, so you can do the math on that."

"That's right!" I exclaimed, sticking my toe in the water. "I always forget that you're younger than I am!"

"Not by much!" he protested. "Now get in the bath, you cougar."

"Oh, really?" I asked, slowly getting in the water. "God, this water's a million degrees!"

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I assured him. I scooted over to him. "So, what do you want to do for your birthday?"

"I don't know," he replied.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" I asked. "You gave me the best present I could ever ask for." I lifted my hand out of the water, but suddenly gasped. "Oh my God."

"What's wrong?" Leif asked, sounding panicked.

"The ring!" I cried, tears filling my eyes. "It's gone!"

"Were you wearing it before we left?" he asked. I nodded. "It probably fell in the water, then." Before I could say anything, Leif disappeared under the water. He quickly came back up for air.

"Did you find it?" I asked.

"No," he replied. "I'll keep looking. And _don't _try to help me." He went under again.

He would periodically come back up for air, but each time, he looked disappointed. After about five minutes of searching, he came back up, a smile on his face. He triumphantly held up the ring.

"You found it!" I exclaimed, taking it from him. I slipped it back on my finger, but I suddenly heard a splash. I looked over, and saw that Leif had disappeared under the water again, but he wasn't coming back up.

I immediately panicked, knowing what had just happened couldn't have been good. Despite his previous instructions, I ducked my head under the water, and moved my hands around. I felt his hand, and I pulled as hard as I could to lift him out of the water.

Somehow, I managed to get him out of the hot spring, and onto the nearby ground. He was alive, of course, but it still made me nervous that he had passed out.

_And he did it for me,_ I thought.

Suddenly, the door to the wall around the hot spring opened, and I nearly died from embarrassment when I saw who was standing there: Rita and Eunice. But to my surprise, Eunice started laughing.

"That's Leif!" she exclaimed. "Always the one to pass out in the bath! And _what _are you two wearing?"

"I lost my ring," I replied. "And he went down to get it. And the swimsuits…are kind of a long story." I looked at Rita, and was shocked once again to see her looking _mad._ While I knew she could be rough on unruly customers at the bar, I had never seen her legitimately angry.

"Leona," she said. "You are _so _lucky you got out of there when you did." I blinked, and Rita seemed to calm down a little. "Haven't you ever heard that it's not good for a pregnant woman to go into a hot spring? It's actually really dangerous."

"Leif mentioned it," I admitted. "But I didn't know…"

I heard Leif stir, and I looked down. His face was red, but his eyes were open. He smiled, and reached his hand upward.

"Your hair's all wavy," he said, sounding very out-of-it.

"Leif," I said. "We have company." He looked around, and once he noticed his mother and sister, he yelped, and jumped back into the hot spring.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" he cried. Once again, Eunice started laughing, and Rita and I joined in soon after. The embarrassed look on his face was priceless. "You saw me, didn't you?"

"Oh, yes we did," Eunice replied.

"Don't worry," Rita teased. "Both of us have changed your diapers plenty of times before. We're scarred by _nothing._"

"Leona!" Leif cried, turning to face me. "Do something about them! They _listen _to you!" I smiled.

"No need for it," I told him. "You've passed your initiation rites. Welcome to the tiny swimsuit club." Rita, Eunice, and I laughed even harder, as Leif's cheeks turned even redder.

I was truly starting to believe that no embarrassing moment for Leif was complete without his family.

**It feels like it's been forever since I updated. Is that true?**

**Hm, things to talk about. Oh, I got cast in my school play! It's "Twelve Angry Women" (which was adapted from "Twelve Angry Men", in case you were wondering). You can probably find the script online. It's really awesome and intense. I'm Juror Three, also known simply as Three in my version of the script (which has a ton of highlighting on it XD). She's the angriest of them all! XD**

**Otherwise, life is pretty chill. Hopefully I'll get to a point in the story where something interesting happens, but I don't just want to skip too much of month seven and eight. That would be lame. XP**

**And here's an incredibly useless hint: although VLA frequently repeats Gunie being a sickly child, this story will NOT be a repeat of the last half or so of Teenage Stupidity.**

**Wow, that really was useless.  
**


	20. The Mommy Club

Since month seven was wrapping up, I started going to the clinic more and more frequently for checkups. Of course, Luna was there most of the time, especially since Sebastian was still so little. Doriane also brought Hugh over to play with Helena, and Irwen tagged along with her. Irwen had been showing a lot of interest in babies lately, more so than usual, and it wasn't surprising. After all, she had told us in secret that maybe in a couple of years, she and Joseph might start trying to have a baby of their own.

One day, I had decided to go over to the clinic an hour or so before my checkup so I could hang out with my friends, and possibly help with the kids. And honestly, I didn't have anything better to do that day, since Leif was working.

"I don't see why your dad couldn't let Leif off work," Doriane muttered for the millionth time.

"First of all," I started to tell her. "Leif gets paid by the hour, and neither of us want to miss out on that. Second, he comes to every single other one of my checkups."

"That's true," Luna pointed out, as she set Sebastian in his bassinet. She suddenly looked down at the floor. "Helena, no!" She quickly grabbed the little girl, and sat her on her lap.

"What happened?" Doriane asked. By then, though, Hugh had come toddling over to her.

"Ear," he said, covering his little pointed ears.

"She must have grabbed his ear," Luna said, sighing. She looked at Helena. "Are you ready to play nice now, Helena?"

"Bay," Helena said, smiling. "Bay ooh." Luna hugged, her and smiled.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "That's baby Hugh! Good job!" She set Helena on the floor, and the two babies resumed playing.

"How can you understand that?" I asked. "No offense, I mean."

"It takes practice," Doriane replied. "And sometimes they point at things they see, which helps a lot."

"Irwen," Luna said gently. "You've been awfully quiet over there. Are you okay?" Irwen, who had been sitting in an armchair with her eyes closed, suddenly looked a little more alert.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'm just…so tired." She rubbed her eyes, and stretched her arms.

"You _do _look kind of pale," Doriane said.

"I'm fine," Irwen insisted. "I didn't sleep too well last night, that's all."

"If you say so," Luna said, sounding skeptical. "Anyway, Leona, you should get going. Your checkup is in a few minutes."

"Oh, thanks," I said. "Time sure flies."

"I should probably go, too," Doriane said. "Hughie has to go down for his nap soon."

Suddenly, I heard Irwen let out a little gasp, and we all turned around. She was back in the armchair, except that time, she was unconscious.

"Oh my God," Luna murmured. She ran to the doorway. "Mom! Mom, come here!" Seconds later, Lara had rushed into the room.

"Oh no," she said, but she wasted no time in getting over to Irwen and making sure she was okay. "Doriane and Luna, help me get her into a bed. It's probably nothing major. Leona, you stay put and watch the babies." Before I could protest, I remembered that heavy lifting was bad for me, and Lara, Luna, and Doriane had started moving Irwen out of the room anyway.

I sat with Hugh and Helena for a few minutes, until I heard someone walk through the doorway. I looked up, and saw that Erik was there.

"I'll watch them," Erik said. "You should be with your friends, not stuck babysitting."

"Thank you," I told him quickly. I rushed out of the room, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw that someone was standing in my way.

"How are you, Leona?" Iris said in her usual, quiet way.

"Iris," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"The spirits," she said, turning to face me. "Something isn't right here."

"Well," I said. "They're right. Irwen just fainted." Iris looked away. "Come on, I'll take you to her." I started to walk toward the examination rooms, and Iris followed me.

When I found which room Irwen was in, I knocked on the door, and Lara opened it.

"Erik's watching the kids," I immediately explained.

"Oh, good," Lara said. "And you can both come on in. She's conscious now, but-" She cut herself off, as I heard a retching sound from within the room.

Once Iris and I were in the room, I saw Luna and Doriane standing there, comforting a trembling and tearful Irwen, who was sitting upright on a cot.

"Mom," Irwen said quietly.

"So," Iris said. "The spirits are telling the truth again. Are you hearing them too, Doriane?"

"I've been hearing them," Doriane replied. "But I couldn't figure out who they were talking about…" Luna and I looked at each other, as we were both completely unsure of where their discussion was going.

"What do you mean?" Irwen asked.

"It all adds up now," Lara murmured. "Irwen, I think what we're all trying to say is…you're pregnant."

Irwen's bright blue eyes widened, and filled with tears again.

"No," she whispered. "I can't…I can't be! I'm not ready for a baby!" Luna, Doriane, and I rushed to her side once again, and we all hugged her tightly.

"I thought the same thing," Iris said.

The room went dead silent. I had _never _heard Iris talk about anything that happened during the time leading up to Irwen's birth. What little I knew about it was only through what Irwen had told us. I heard the door shut as Lara left the room, obviously aware that this subject was really private.

"Imagine," Iris said, sounding distant. "A woman coping not only with being abused and taken advantage of, as well as the unexplained disappearance of her only friend in the world, finding out that she would be having her attacker's child." She paused. "I should have figured it out when Blanche vanished. The last thing she said to me was, 'You don't need me. You won't be alone anymore.' But…I felt alone. Gelwein was trapped in another world, and even though I hated him, I felt a strange attachment to him. And becoming human was painful as well. I started feeling physical pain, hunger, sickness…I didn't know what to make of it." She looked at me. "Your soon-to-be in-laws were the only comfort I had, Leona, and I left them. I went back to Whale Island, isolating myself from the world. Though it didn't take me long to come back. And before I knew it, I had a child. I felt a sense of comfort when I saw how similar you looked to Blanche, Irwen, but I cried when I saw those blue eyes for the first time. They were _his._" She paused again, looking down at the floor. "But as you grew, I realized how foolish I was to even think such a thing. You made me happy. So, I guess the point I want to make is, sometimes the unexpected, seemingly devastating things can bring you joy, and that a child is nothing to be afraid of."

Once Iris had finished talking, the whole room stayed quiet. There was absolutely no way anyone could respond to a story like that. My vision was getting blurry as tears formed in my eyes, and before I knew it, I was crying. Then Irwen burst into tears, then Luna, then Doriane. Iris reached over to hug Irwen, and she let her cry on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Iris said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, Mama," Irwen sobbed. "You're right."

There was a knock at the door, and Lara opened it.

"You have a visitor, Irwen," she said, smiling broadly. There was a collective gasp from all of us as Joseph stepped into the room.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Irwen said quickly. "But that baby we were talking about…is going to be here a little earlier than we expected."

We all watched as Joseph's expression slowly changed to one of shock, and then one of happiness.

"All right!" he exclaimed. He grabbed Irwen's arms, and lifted her off the cot.

"You're not mad?" Irwen asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"No way!" he replied. "The only reason I said we should wait is because I was scared! Now, I don't really have a choice!" We all laughed, and even Iris smiled a little.

"I don't understand your logic," Irwen said. "But I'm happy that you're happy."

"I hate to interrupt," Lara said. "But Leona's checkup was supposed to have started over five minutes ago."

"Oh, right," I said. I was so happy for Irwen that I had forgotten all about the checkup. "Congratulations, you two." I gave Irwen a hug, then left the room.

I smiled as I followed Lara to another examination room. Irwen, the baby of our group, was finally joining the mommy club, and knowing her, she'd love it.

**D'awwww...except for the fact that the future kid will turn out to be Amy. XP**

**I know this chapter didn't really help move along the storyline, and Leif isn't in it at all T_T. But I thought it was cute, and showed the strong bond Leona and her friends have.**

**And I realize that I'm skipping pretty big chunks of time in the story between chapters, but I promise I'll make up for it in month eight, which means that we'll be seeing a future protagonist very, very soon. But it's not going to be over so soon! Here's a hint: look at chapter 22 of VLA.  
**


	21. Please Do Not Eat the Frogs

Summer was getting closer, and I could really feel it one day as I was walking home with my groceries.

I could hardly believe I was already at the beginning of month eight. The thought that I would have a baby to care for in a month, or less than that, was just surreal. I started wondering more and more every day what motherhood would be like, and even more than that, I wondered what Gunie would be like. Even though I had met him in the dream, he was a child then, and obviously, I would first see him as a baby. Would he look like me, or like Leif, or a combination of both of us? Would he be a good baby that liked sleeping, or would he have colic and cry constantly? I continued to think about it as I opened the door of the house, and walked inside.

Suddenly, the toe of my shoe caught on something, and I started falling forward. I let out a scream, dropping the groceries and trying to move my hands in a way that would hopefully break my fall. I heard Leif call my name, and I closed my eyes, hoping nothing horrible would happen. Instead of landing on the floor, though, I opened my eyes to see Leif below me. I gasped.

"Got you," he said, breathing heavily. Tears filled my eyes, and I started crying uncontrollably. Leif sat up, bringing me up with him, and gave me a hug. I rested my head on his shoulder, and I realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. I wasn't entirely sure why, but I was too relieved to care.

"Leif," I sobbed. I started to open my eyes so I could see if he was all right. "Thank God you were here. If you weren't, who knows whether or not I'd be…_n-naked!_" I hadn't intended to finish the sentence the way I did, but Leif had caught me more than a little off-guard. He started laughing.

"Well," he said. "Probably not, unless you were in a bad mood, in which case, I'd be hiding from you."

"Sh-Shut up!" I stammered. "Where are your clothes?"

"I just took a bath," he replied. "But then, I heard you come in, so I went to go see you. Then, you tripped, so I went to catch you, and I lost my towel in the process." I noticed the bath towel on the floor, and he grabbed it, quickly using it to recover himself. He stood up, and I couldn't help but admire him.

"You are _so _lucky it was me, and not someone else," I muttered. I tried to get up, but failed miserably. Leif stretched his hands out, and I took them. He pulled me up to a standing position.

"And you're _so _lucky I was here," he replied. "And that I care about you more than I care about being decent."

"Well," I said, smiling at him. "_That's_ not saying much." In response, he shook his head, sending water droplets from his wet hair.

"Sorry," he said. "I couldn't hear you. Having beautiful, thick hair can be such a burden sometimes."

"Wow, Leif," I said, trying my best not to humor him. "You've either got a future in theater, or you're just being a jackass." Leif turned around, looking highly amused.

"I'm telling your dad you said a bad word," he teased.

"Go ahead," I told him. Gunie started kicking up a storm at that exact moment, and the irritated look on my face must have given that away.

Leif practically ran over to me, and he put his ear against my enormous stomach.

"What's that, my boy?" he said, in an overdramatic way that reminded me so much of the bad productions that made me wonder why in the world they were being performed. "You're upset? Oh, Mother didn't mean to hurt you in such a way! She doesn't think of how much harm it can do to a child, tainting his little ears!"

"And the award for least convincing performance goes to Leif," I said, laughing. "You should throw in a dance number next time." He smiled at me, took a step back, and shuffled one of his feet back and forth. "Don't actually do it! I don't want that towel falling off again, let alone while you're _tap dancing!_" He stopped. "Go get dressed, and help me put the groceries away."

"Bossy," he muttered as he started walking toward the bedroom. "It's like reliving my fifth birthday party." He shut the door, and I smiled.

When I thought about it, I remembered Leif's fifth birthday party pretty well. It was the first time I had one of Eunice's cakes, after all, which was really an unforgettable experience. Still, I tried to remember what exactly Leif was referring to when he said I was bossy. Then, it hit me:

"_Hey, Leify! Guess what I heard?"_

"_That eating all of my birthday cake is rude?"_

"_No! I heard it from your mommy and daddy. They said when you turn twenty-one, you have to get twenty-one shots!"_

"_Shots? I don't even like one shot! I don't want to turn twenty-one!"_

"_Well, it probably takes practice. Hey, I know!"_

"_What?"_

"_We could start practicing now! Since you're five, I'll give you five shots! Then, you can get braver and then, you won't even feel it when you're twenty-one!"_

"_Hey, that's kind of smart for a girl! I'll go get Lara."_

"_No, dummy! I wanna be the doctor!"_

"_How are you going to give me a shot?"_

"_I took my mommy's sewing kit to play with, and it has some needles in it. But first, you'll need a checkup."_

"_What are you going to check for?"_

"_I don't know, normal stuff. Like if you have a frog in your throat."_

"_What? I don't eat frogs!"_

"_I know, but sometimes they get in there and make you sick. So, I have to look at your throat first to see if there are any hiding. Now, say 'ah,' and I'm going to put this stick in your mouth."_

"_Where did you find that, Leona…?"_

"_On the ground."_

"_Are you sure this is safe?"_

"_Yes! Now open your mouth and say 'ah,' or I'll scream!"_

"_No, don't scream! I'll do it! Ah…ugh!"_

"_Ew! Mrs. Leif's Mommy, Leify just throwed up all over my new dress!"_

I laughed as I remembered that incident. After I had called for Rita, I started screaming and crying. As if it wasn't enough that he had thrown up at his own birthday party, I got so mad that I started beating the crap out of Leif, making it even worse for him. Lara and Dad had to intervene, because they were the only ones okay with directly touching vomit. For the next week, I refused to talk to Leif, until Luna finally explained to me that touching the back of someone's throat can make them get sick. It was then that I realized that my little pink dress getting ruined wasn't _his _fault, but mine. I immediately went off, begging for his forgiveness.

_It's hard to believe that Leif is already twenty-one,_ I thought.

Suddenly, my eyes widened.

"Leif's already twenty-one," I whispered. "He's been twenty-one for weeks, and I forgot. No…" Once again, I started crying. I sat down at the kitchen table, burying my face in my hands.

"What's wrong this time?" Leif asked. I turned around, and tried to force myself to smile at him, but I could tell right away that he wasn't buying it.

"I…I forgot your birthday," I sobbed. "And you even reminded me…of when it was!" He hugged me, but I heard him laugh.

"You worry too much," he said. "I mean, it's nice to have a birthday celebration, but it's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen."

"It is for me!" I protested, tears steadily streaming down my face. "You've done…so much for me. Even when you didn't have to…"

"Well," he said, sitting down in the chair next to me and scooting it closer. "That's what I'm here for." He took my left hand, and brushed his thumb over my ring. "That's what I'll always be here for." I hugged him tightly, and he returned the gesture.

"I still want to do something for your birthday," I told him. Again, I heard him laugh.

"You can if you want," he replied. "Just promise me something."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Don't gag me with a twig this time," he said. I laughed softly.

"I promise, Leify" I said. "Just as long as you don't eat any more frogs."

**It seems I am back, but more importantly, I am inspired, motivated, and ready to write!**

**This chapter was SO much fun to write. I actually started laughing when Leona realizes that Leif is nekkid. XD**

**Writing about the two of them as kids was also really fun. I've probably mentioned it a million times before, but I love writing kids. And it was weird, because when I was writing that scene, I kind of had a flashback to my "Rugrats"-watching days.**

**And the ending was just kind of a cover-up for my stupid brain fart of not writing a chapter involving Leif's birthday. It turned out to be a great ending for the chapter, though.**

**I realize now, as it gets later and later into the night, that I should probably go to sleep. Why, you ask? Because I'm tempted to start laughing out loud about my use of the word "fart," and my idiocy might end up on this page if I don't just upload this chapter.  
**


	22. Leif's Birthday Gift

The following Holiday, everything was ready to go for Leif's birthday dinner, and I was really proud of myself. In fact, I was almost _too_ proud.

I had sent Leif over to visit Kevin so he wouldn't be in the way, and I couldn't wait to see his face when he saw how well I had organized it. The only thing I didn't do myself was make the cake. In my opinion, Eunice was the only one fit to do that job.

I had just set the cake out on the kitchen table when the door opened, and Leif walked into the house.

"Perfect timing," I said. "Are you hungry?"

"Very," he replied, walking over to give me a kiss on the cheek. He sat down at the table, and his face lit up.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed. "How did you know I like Caesar salad? And you made grilled salmon too?"

"I'm not completely oblivious," I said, sitting down across from him. We started eating, and I couldn't help but smile every time I looked at Leif. I could tell he was really happy; it was written all over his face.

"It's great, Leona," he said.

"Thanks," I said. "I tried my best to make it good."

"Well," he said. "You succeeded."

After a while, we had both finished our food.

"Ready for cake?" I asked.

"Already?" he asked.

"Oh," I said, suddenly embarrassed of my enormous appetite. "I mean, I don't mind if you're not."

"Don't be ashamed," he told me. "If you're hungry, you're hungry. And I am too, so let's eat." He went to go get a knife from the silverware drawer, and I sneakily put a candle on the cake, and lit it. As he came back with the knife, he smiled.

"Make a wish," I said as he sat back down. "I know there's only one candle, but Danny only had one left at the store. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," he said. He took my hands, and held them, once again rubbing his thumb over my ring finger on my left hand. He quickly blew out the candle, and looked up at me for a second before moving on to getting himself a piece of cake.

"What did you wish for?" I asked.

"If I tell you," he said. "Then it won't come true." He took a bite of his piece of cake, and I decided to serve myself as well.

"Oh, come on," I said. "It's not like I'm going to tell anybody."

"No," he said. "Not telling."

"Fine," I said. "I guess I'll find out later. Now, finish your cake. I have something for you."

"You mean a present?" he asked.

"No," I replied. "It's a letter from the king of Norad. Of course it's a present!"

He took the last bite of his cake, and I took an envelope out of my pocket. His eyes lit up, and he opened it slowly.

"Carriage tickets?" he asked, his smile getting even broader. "To Palermo?"

"That's not all," I told him. He looked in the envelope, sifting through its contents.

"Holy crap!" he exclaimed. "Hotel reservations…theater tickets…Leona, how did you get all of this?"

"It was my idea to go on a trip," I told him. "But when I talked to your parents about it, I didn't even think they would be able to make it happen. Apparently, your family had a customer from the city awhile back, and he liked your family so much that he said to them that he had connections with most of the major businesses in Palermo, and that anytime they wanted to take a trip there, he would be sure you all had plenty to do, see, and eat. So, your dad talked to the former customer about it, and he sent all of this in the mail." I looked down. "So, I guess this really isn't a present from me, but I hope you like it anyw-" He cut me off by leaning across the table to kiss me.

"You're brilliant," he said. "Yet another reason I love you."

"I wouldn't call it 'brilliant,'" I replied. "But thank you anyway. Unfortunately, we have to start packing."

"Packing?" Leif asked.

"Didn't you read the dates on the tickets?" I asked. "We leave the day after tomorrow."

"Really?" he asked. "But how long are we going to be there? What if the baby comes early?"

"There are hospitals in the city," I replied. "And the medicine there is really top-notch, so if he's born there, there's nothing we can do about it. But I doubt it'll happen anyway."

"I'm not worried about that," Leif said, a smile creeping onto his face. "I just don't want my fiancée being murdered by her friends for not being in town when she has her baby." I laughed.

"No," I said. "You've got it all wrong. Dori would murder me. Irwen would be responsible for coming up with an alibi, and Luna would hide my body." Leif raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds surprisingly well-thought-out," he said. I smiled, and started clearing the table.

"It actually is," I replied. "When Dori turned thirteen, we all slept over at her house. As one of her presents, she got this game, and it basically gives you a random situation, and each player gets assigned a role in that scene by the others. For example, it might say that the players are at a beach, and someone gets attacked by a shark. Each person would have a part to play. So when the situation of a murder case came up, that's what the results were."

"That sounds…really pointless," Leif said.

"It can be pretty fun," I replied. "Especially for a bunch of teenage girls." Leif smiled, and looked down at his feet. "What is it?"

"Ah, nothing," he said. "Just your seventeenth birthday." I furrowed my brow.

"Huh?" I asked. "What happened at my seven…oh." I grimaced at my horrible mistake.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm surprised. You don't seem like the type to forget her first kiss."

"_Bye, Leif! Thanks for coming!"_

"_Wait, Leona…"_

"_What is it? Everybody else is gone. You're overstaying your welcome!"_

"_Um, sorry, but I really need to talk to you about something."_

"_Okay, talk then."_

"_Can we maybe go over there?"_

"_Leif, you're acting kind of weird."_

"_Fine, I'll just say it."_

"_Say what?"_

"_Leona, you're making this really difficult for me…"_

"_Well, sorry. But just say what's bothering you already! I can't wait all-! Mmph!"_

"…_There, I did it."_

"_That…was unexpected."_

"_Um…I should go. I don't want your dad to see."_

"_Okay…good night!"_

I had recalled every bit of that moment as Leif and I washed the dishes, and we went and sat down on the nearby couch.

"I was so naïve," I said. "I didn't even know you liked me."

"And I was an awkward teenage boy," Leif said, laughing. "So I really don't blame you."

"But I shouldn't have avoided you after that," I told him. "I didn't quite know what to think of the whole situation. It must have made you feel horrible."

"More like a pile of shit," he replied. "I'm glad I kept pursuing you, though." I looked up at him, and I blushed a little as I saw those beautiful violet eyes gazing at me.

"I'm glad too," I replied.

For a moment, we sat quietly, arms around each other, enjoying the peaceful sound of each other's breathing. It seemed that packing for our trip would just have to wait.

**Sorry that was a shorter chapter. But I promise the next couple of chapters will be interesting.**

**Okay, I'll drop some hints. So, Leif and Leona are going to Palermo with theater tickets. Unfortunately, the theatrical "highlight" of their trip turns out to be a nightmare for Leona, and not just because of the show itself. It's because of one of the actors, who should have just stayed in her place as an understudy.**

**Haha, I hope this leaves you guessing somewhat!  
**


	23. Honey

After a few days and a several-hour-long carriage ride, Leif and I finally arrived in Palermo. Leif tipped the driver as we got out of the carriage, and I exhaled deeply, stretching my arms up high.

"I can move again!" I exclaimed. I suddenly grimaced. "My back hurts like hell, though."

"I can imagine," Leif said. "Those seats weren't very comfortable. But now, we're here, so let's go check in."

The hotel lobby was beautiful. A huge chandelier hung from the high ceiling, and the wall was covered in an ornate mural. There were people bustling about, drinking tea in nearby parlors, and stopping to admire the grandeur of just the entrance to the hotel alone.

"Wow," Leif murmured.

"Yeah," I said. "It's pretty impressive. Let's check in before the line gets too long, though." Leif didn't move, and kept looking at the ceiling, so I took his arm and practically dragged him to the concierge desk.

After a while, we managed to get our keys, and we headed to our room.

"Are you sure you want to take the stairs?" Leif asked me.

"It's only on the second floor," I replied. "I'll be fine. Besides, I need the exercise." Leif sighed, and we started going up the stairs. Although I did get a little tired going up, I wasn't about to let Leif know he was right about the matter.

Our room was pretty close to the stairs, so that was nice. But then again, there _was _the issue of the possible noise from the lobby. I decided not to think about it, though. Leif stuck his key into the lock, and slowly opened the door.

All previous concerns about the room went away as I looked inside it. It was elegant, but inviting at the same time, with a huge window that gave us a great view of the nearby ocean. I shut the door behind us, and started walking over to the comfortable-looking four poster bed to sit down, but I stopped as soon as I saw Leif running toward it. He let out something that almost sounded like a battle cry, leapt onto the bed, and finished it off with a somersault.

"Are you out of your mind?" I asked him, laughing as I walked toward the bed. "What _was _that?"

"It's kind of a ritual," he replied. "Once, when I was pretty little, I was on vacation with my family, and the trip to get there was pretty long. I had been driving them crazy the whole trip, and even Eunice was starting to show some signs of being annoyed. By the time we got to our hotel room, I was so full of energy that I did exactly what I did just now. Apparently, they found it so adorable that they made me do it every time we went on vacation for the next ten years." He leaned back against the pillows on the bed.

"And you're still a hyper little boy," I told him, smiling. I sat down on the bed, but I cried out as Leif pulled me back so I was lying down next to him. He kissed me, and hugged me tightly.

"I think energetic is a more appropriate term," he said. I snuggled closer to him.

"Remind me to never take a long trip with you again," I said.

Gunie started kicking up a storm, and I took Leif's hand and moved it to my stomach.

"He must be getting really strong," Leif said. "I can feel the kicking now more than ever."

"You're telling me," I said.

"It's hard to believe," he said. "That in less than a month, we're going to be parents." He paused. "Are you scared?"

"For what part?" I asked, laughing.

"I don't know," he said.

"To be honest," I replied. "While I hope he's healthy, and that the birth goes well, the most terrifying part for me is the long-term. I want to do the best job I can as a parent, but I don't know if I'll be any good at it, no matter how hard I try."

Leif hugged me even tighter.

"To tell you the truth," Leif said. "I'm a little nervous too. I mean, being a father is important any way you look at it, but since we're having a boy, I have to be a good example. And now that the due date is so close, I find myself getting more and more afraid every day. But somehow, the crazy, risk-taking bastard that still exists within me can't wait for that day to come." I smiled.

"Well," I said. "I kind of like that guy." I paused, realizing how tired I was. "But if that guy doesn't let me go, I'm going to fall asleep, and we'll get behind schedule."

"Schedule?" Leif asked. "Aren't we on vacation?"

"Yes," I replied. "But just because we're on vacation doesn't mean we can waste all our time in a hotel room! We're in the capital city of Norad!" I got up from the bed, wriggling out of Leif's arms, and walked over to the window. "Just look at the view we have! Doesn't it make you want to go outside and explore the city?" I inhaled deeply, finally realizing how happy I was to be back in the capital.

"I barely got any sleep last night," Leif said. "I can't sleep in an upright position, so when I finally nodded off at around five, I woke up every so often anyway." My face fell.

"Really?" I asked, sitting back down on the bed. He nodded.

"That previous display of energy was the last bit I had," he said.

"Aw, no," I cooed. "Why didn't you tell me, honey?" My eyes widened, and I quickly clasped my hand over my mouth. Leif looked up at me with an expression that was somewhere between shocked and amused.

"Did you just call me 'honey'?" he asked.

"It just kind of…came out," I said. I was absolutely mortified. "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" he asked, sitting up and hugging me. "I've been waiting for that. I didn't want to be the first one to do it, though. I wasn't sure how you'd react."

"Still," I said. "It's embarrassing." He rested his head on my shoulder.

"Don't be," he said. "You just made my day." I groaned.

"I'd prefer it if you were sleeping right now," I told him.

"Me too," he replied. "But then again, I don't know where we're going."

"The Historical Museum of Norad," I replied. He laughed, and lay back down on the bed, closing his eyes slowly. I tried not to laugh, even though I knew what his answer would be.

"On second thought," he said. "Sleep sounds more interesting."

I smiled. The fact that Leif was becoming more and more predictable was comforting, in its own, strange way.

**Finally, a chapter! I want to give special thanks to my doctor for putting me back on the meds that apparently helped me write and feel motivated. And yeah, that's about it...**

**The next chapter is going to get really interesting, but it's not going to be anything major in terms of the plot. Well, unless you count an epiphany for Leona. XD  
**


	24. Opening Night

On our final night in Palermo, Leif and I found ourselves preparing for the highlight of the trip: the opening performance of _Romeo and Juliet _at the Royal Palermo Theatre. I was putting on my makeup and doing my hair, while Leif waited outside the bathroom. Usually, gussying up required that I have some concentration and peace, but Leif, as always, was worrying about me unnecessarily.

"Are you _sure _you want to go?" Leif asked me for the umpteenth time.

"Positive," I replied. "Why are you so worried about it?"

"Because you were in that play," Leif replied.

"I know I was!" I told him. "And I'm kind of excited to see how they did it without me. Besides, seeing my old friends will be fun."

"But they replaced you!" Leif replied. The eyeliner pencil I had been using so meticulously slipped and jabbed me in the eye. I groaned in frustration; as if it wasn't hard enough to put on eyeliner without Leif bothering me about my previous occupation.

"They _had _to," I explained. "They can't put on the show without one of the protagonists." I paused, thinking. "I just hoped they picked one of the better understudies…"

"What?" Leif asked.

"Never mind," I muttered.

I didn't want to go through the process of explaining to Leif how I felt about my understudies. I had three of them, and I only liked two of them, Bethany and Marissa. Unfortunately, neither of them were my immediate subordinates; Rochelle was.

I took my hairbrush and attacked my hair angrily. _Rochelle._ That name alone was enough to make someone sound like a snob, but the one Rochelle I knew didn't even need the name. The girl was a freaking sadist, too. The first time I was stupid enough to get into a catfight with her, she told me that I would be sorry if I ever crossed her again. The next day, one of the stage managers came early to rehearsal only to find Rochelle backstage with a Ouija board trying to get some evil spirit to possess me and make me unable to perform.

Gunie started kicking, and I chuckled. Maybe she _had _gotten some evil spirit to possess me. At least, I would consider the little guy an evil spirit if he started kicking during the performance, consequently making me have to leave to use the bathroom.

Once I was completely ready to go, I stepped out of the bathroom, and Leif's cheeks flushed immediately upon seeing me.

"Wow," he said, smiling. "Are you sure you're just going to be in the audience?"

"You're so bad at trying to play it cool," I said. He sighed.

"You look beautiful," he said. I kissed him, not even needing to stand on my tiptoes due to my high-heeled shoes.

"That's more like it," I replied. "Now let's go." I grabbed my little pink clutch, which was stuffed to the brim with medicinal herbs ranging from pain relief to upset stomach treatment, as well as money, off the nearby dresser and started to walk to the door.

"Are you sure we should walk?" Leif asked hesitantly. I turned around and looked at him.

"Leif," I said. "It's only a block away. I'll be fine."

"You always say that," he muttered. "But all right. I'll believe you this time."

"Hey!" I protested. "Just because it's happened before doesn't mean it'll happen again!" He walked up to me and put his arm around me.

"I'm only kidding," he said.

We started the walk out the hotel and to the theater. It had gotten really hot outside, so walking was even more difficult than usual.

"Was it this hot earlier today?" I panted.

"No," Leif admitted. "Don't worry, though. Once it gets dark out, and we're out of the theater, it'll cool down a bit."

"Good," I muttered. I felt sweat forming on my face, and got even more annoyed, since I had spent so much time applying makeup. When we finally reached the theater, I was praying I didn't already look like a mess. If anyone I knew was there, then it would just be embarrassing to look unkempt at a performance.

Once we got past the box office and ticket-taker, I was immediately overwhelmed. The doors had obviously not opened yet, so there were people moving about everywhere. I laughed when I saw that most of the people there were concentrated in the area surrounding the bar; it was comforting to know that I wasn't the only one who was burning up. Or maybe they just wanted to drink.

As Leif and I meandered through the hordes of people, I felt it get hotter, despite the fact that we were in such a huge space.

"Do you want something to drink?" Leif asked.

"No," I replied. "I'm fine." Without thinking, I wiped some of the sweat off my brow.

"Your face is all red," he said. "Are you sure?" I felt a little dizzy, and I stumbled a little.

"No," I admitted. "I want to…sit down."

"Oh God," Leif said, his eyes widening in fear.

Everything around me seemed to get a little warped, and I tried to sit down on the floor. I heard Leif say something, but I couldn't quite understand it. As my vision blurred and darkened, only one coherent thought came to mind: Gunie.

After what seemed like not much later, I opened my eyes. I was lying on a chaise lounge that I somehow felt I had seen before, and an even more familiar scene surrounded me, but it took a minute to register where I was. When it did hit me, though, I felt a sense of confusion and excitement.

"The green room?" I exclaimed.

I heard someone walk quickly toward me, and Leif appeared at my side.

"Leona," he whispered. He kissed me and hugged me tightly before I could say a word.

"Why am I backstage?" I asked.

"A friend of yours was nearby when you passed out," he replied. "And he said that this is the only room that tends to stay cool, even during the summer. Besides, you were a former cast member."

"A friend of mine?" I asked. "Is he still here? Did you get his name?"

"Right here, honey," a voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Richard, the head costume designer for the show, and the closest friend I had made in Palermo. In fact, he was the only person I told when I found out I was pregnant.

"Richard!" I exclaimed. I tried to get up and give him a hug, but my head started spinning, and I sat back down.

"Do _not _exert yourself in _any _way, sweetie," Richard ordered. "You are staying _right here _while your fiancé gets you some water." Leif nodded, and left the room.

Once the door shut behind him, Richard rushed over to me.

"Oh…my…God," he said dramatically. "How _was _that guyyour 'loser' ex-boyfriend?"

"Both of us were stupid," I replied, laughing. "That's the only reason I can think of."

"Yeah!" Richard exclaimed. "You would _have _to be! He's obviously crazy about you, honey, and he is _good…looking._ I swear, Leona, you two are going to have the most beautiful baby in the world!" He paused. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Thanks," I said. "And it's a boy. We're naming him after my father, but he doesn't know yet."

"So cute!" Richard cooed. "You must be getting close to the due date. What are you doing out of town?"

"I've still got a few weeks left!" I protested. "And it was a birthday present for Leif. It's been awesome to be back here, though. How is everything going?"

"It's been interesting," Richard said. "Ever since Rochelle took over your role, she's been terrorizing the place! Ugh, she's been _so_ demanding! Seriously, her new costume _alone _pushed the wardrobe budget."

"Why didn't anyone stop her?" I asked.

"No one has the guts to," he replied. "She's made quite a name for herself here in Palermo, and if she quits because she doesn't get her way, who _knows _what will happen to our production? They've already cut a lot of the funding for our troupe."

"Really?" I asked. "I thought the government was giving more money to the company?"

"Yeah," Richard exclaimed. "From King Gilbert himself! But he liked you so much more than he likes Rochelle. He said that you reminded him of someone he used to know, or something like that."

Just then, the door opened back up, and Leif stepped inside with a glass of water in each hand.

"I wasn't sure how much you would need," Leif said. I smiled.

"Thank you," I told him. I took a glass out of his right hand, and drank from it. I had never liked water so much in my entire life.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked.

"Much better," I replied. "But tired…very tired."

"We should go back to the hotel," Leif said. "You can get some rest there."

"I agree," Richard added. "Rochelle's performance is _nothing _compared to yours, sweetie, and you need to take care of yourself."

"Besides," Leif said. "It's only going to be hotter in the theater."

I sighed; as curious as I was about the performance, I had someone else that I needed to be taking care of.

"All right," I said. "Let's go."

I got up from the chaise lounge with some help from Leif, and Richard led us back to the entrance of the theater. I thanked him like crazy, and he was even nice enough to refer us to his friend, who happened to be a wedding dress designer.

It was dark out, and as Leif had said, it was much cooler outside. The city lights were bright, but I could still see the stars in the sky, and I remembered something Dad had said to me on the day I got cast in my first play: "You're my little star, Leona."

I had only lived up to that statement somewhat, and I was somewhat regretful about the fact that I was no longer able to perform. But then again, I had something ahead of me that would be twice as exciting, and even more fulfilling.

**Yeah, this chapter played out way differently than I thought it would. Originally, Leona and Rochelle were going to get into a catfight, but I figured since Leona has matured so much that bitching at a former cast member wouldn't really suit her at this point. Also, adding that scene would have made this chapter really, really long, so I decided to omit it completely. Sorry. :(**

**The good thing about that is, we're now closer than ever to seeing Gunie!  
**


	25. Twelve Hours

Ever since I was a little kid, I had always loved Summer. If someone were ever to tell me, as a child, that one day, I would cringe every time I so much as heard the name of the season, I would have thought they were insane. Apparently, I would have been wrong.

One lazy, particularly hot Holiday afternoon, Leif and I lay sprawled out on our bathroom floor. Since Leif had recently discovered that the tiles were always cool, I couldn't stay away from it.

"It's been a week now," I muttered.

"What?" Leif asked.

"As of today, the due date was a week ago," I explained. "I don't know whether I should be worried or annoyed."

"I'm sure it's fine," Leif said. "I mean, some babies just take their time." He turned his head to face me. "But I can imagine that you might be annoyed. I know how much you want to meet our little guy." He paused for a moment. "Speaking of which, have you talked with Lara about whether you'll go to the clinic or stay at home when the time comes?" I groaned.

"Shoot," I muttered. "I was supposed to tell her after we got back from our trip. I should go do that now." I slowly sat up, while Leif got up quickly so he could help me.

It was unbearably hot outside, but I had been drinking tons of water, so I would be fine.

"Are you going to be all right in this heat?" Leif asked.

"You worry too much," I said, smiling up at him.

"I guess that's my answer," he said, laughing.

As we passed my parents' house, I felt the kicking start up again, but then, I felt kind of…strange. There was no other way to describe it. Then, I heard something splatter on the ground. Leif and I froze.

"Was that…did you…?" Leif stammered.

"Yeah," I replied. "My water just broke." Leif started to panic.

"Oh my God!" he cried. "We need to get over to the clinic, and fast!"

"Calm down!" I told him. "I'm not in any pain just yet. That will come later. But you're right, we should go over there."

We walked quickly over to the clinic, despite the heat. Once we got there, Leif pushed the door open, and practically dragged me inside. Lara just happened to be in the waiting room, and she must have sensed the urgency.

"Is it time?" she asked.

"It's time," I replied.

"Well," Lara said, her tone of voice suddenly changing to one that sounded very calm, but fairly firm as well. "I guess you'll be having the baby here, then. Let's get you situated, just in case anything happens in the near future. Come with me." She started to walk toward a hallway that led to some more isolated rooms, and I followed her.

"Wait," Leif said. "What should I do?"

"You can come too, Leif," Lara replied. "Just try not to get in the way."

As we walked, my mind ran, both with worry, excitement, and just general questions.

"About how long should this take?" I wondered aloud.

"Well," Lara replied. "Since this is your first child, it will probably take around six or seven hours, but possibly more."

"Wow," I murmured as Lara opened the door to the room.

"So it'll be safe for me to leave and tell everybody what's going on?" he asked.

"Everybody?" I cried in disbelief.

"I just mean your parents and mine," Leif explained.

"I don't want any of them in here!" I protested.

Lara handed me a white hospital gown.

"You'll want to change into this, Leona," Lara said.

"I'll leave," Leif said quickly. I began to undress so I could get the gown on as Leif started to walk toward the door to leave the room. Suddenly, the door opened, nearly hitting Leif in the face, to reveal a crowd. And to my dismay, Dad was at the front.

"What's going on, Lara?" he shouted. "I heard shouting in front of my house, and it sounded like Leona! Is she here, and is she all right?"

"Raguna!" Lara scolded. "She's changing! Give the poor girl some privacy, all of you!" Before anyone could say anything, she and Leif left the room, and the door slammed behind them.

I changed into the white gown as quickly as I could, but I quickly doubled over, screaming out in pain as the first contraction hit me like a ton of bricks. The door opened once again, and Lara walked in, Leif running closely behind her.

"Contractions starting?" Lara asked. I looked up at her, feeling my eyes fill with tears, and I nodded.

"What does that mean?" Leif asked, sounding panicked once again. "Is that normal?"

"I thought you read the books!" I cried, as Lara helped me into a cot.

"I did!" he protested. "But it's not like I can read everything!"

"Arguing isn't going to help anything," Lara said. "Now, Leona, this is going to go on for a long time, so be prepared for a lot of pain."

"What about painkillers?" I asked.

"Painkillers can't do everything, dear," Lara said. "And there's no point in giving them to you just yet. The worst is yet to come." I frowned; as if I needed to hear that.

"Are you going to be in here the whole time?" I asked her.

"Not the whole time," Lara replied. "Only for the painkillers, the actual birth, and if you need something else. If you need me, send Leif out here. I'll be preparing some medicines, most of which will be for your benefit."

She left the room and closed the door behind her, and Leif and I were left alone.

"If the actual birth hurts more than the contractions," I said quietly. "Then I don't know what I'll do. I'm starting to get a little scared." Leif pulled up a chair to sit beside me, and he took my hand.

"Everything's going to be fine," he said. "I _know_ it is. And this whole time, I'll be-"

"Son of a _bitch!_" I screamed, interrupting him as another contraction came.

"That's no way to talk about my mother," he said, jokingly. I, however, was in no mood for jokes.

"Shut…_up_," I told him through gritted teeth. That one had been particularly bad, and it lasted a little longer than the previous one. Another came quickly after, and, without thinking, I squeezed Leif's hand, even digging my fingernails in. He, of course, cried out in pain.

"What the hell?" he shouted. "Are you trying to kill me or something?" Once my own pain faded out, I felt a little less cranky.

"Sorry," I said. He looked at me, and smiled.

"Don't apologize," he said. "I was just…surprised, that's all."

Five hours later, I wasn't quite so apologetic for anything.

"God damn it, Leif!" I shouted. "Why the hell did you do this to me?"

"You wanted to!" Leif protested. Normally, I would have laughed at his terrified expression, but I was _mad._

"Go get Lara!" I demanded. "And you'd better not come back here without my fuc – _ah!_ – painkillers!"

"Gladly," Leif replied. He hurried out of the room, and quickly came back, Lara following closely behind.

"So the threats are getting worse?" Lara asked, smiling a little.

"Yeah!" Leif replied. "Drug her up! I'm actually starting to believe her!" Lara sighed, and pulled out a fairly large syringe. I gasped and started trembling once I saw the thing. Leif, knowing I was terrified of shots of anything like them, rushed over to my side, and took my hand while Lara gave me the shot.

The time following that was a little hazy, and it seemed to go by very slowly. Finally, when I could see clearly around the room, I saw that it was just a little past two in the morning. The fact that I had been in labor for over twelve hours didn't matter much to me then, because just after that, I felt such an unbearable amount of pain that I screamed, almost at the top of my lungs. Somehow, my judgment was cloudy, and forming words was getting difficult.

Luckily, someone had understood the message, and Lara and Leif came running into the room.

"It's almost time," Lara said, after a quick look under my white gown. I felt the cot shift downward slightly, and I tried to ask why, but I couldn't even get the words out. My face was covered in sweat, but luckily, Leif had a cold cloth in his hand that he quickly put on my forehead.

"I was going to give you one of these awhile ago," he said. "But I accidentally fell asleep, so I had to get you another one. Sorry it took so long." I looked up at him, unable to even give him a smile, despite how grateful I was for him. But somehow, I could feel that he understood.

"All right, Leona," Lara said. "You're going to have to start pushing soon, unless you're ready now. If you are, then nod for me, dear." I wasn't really sure, but I nodded anyway, and started the process.

It was slow and painful, but I kept going for about ten minutes before I had any confirmation from Lara that it was working.

"Keep going, honey," Leif said frantically. He took my hand. "You can do this."

Another five minutes passed, until finally, I heard the long-awaited scream of a newborn baby, and Lara's cheerful exclamation:

"Congratulations," she told us. "It's a boy."

My son's long and sustained cries continued, as Leif and I simultaneously exhaled deeply. I could only keep my eyes open long enough to see Leif's eyes start to fill with tears. The adventure was over, and yet, it had only just started.

After nine months for me, and five months of hell for the two of us, we were parents.

**I'm going to say this before anything: this chapter is not, I repeat, _NOT _the end of this fic. In fact, there's a lot more to go, so if you like this, don't worry!**

**I hope this chapter was okay, I was really worried that it wouldn't be. It's hard not to write a birth scene without being graphic. I don't really like writing about shit, blood, and vomit. Unless you count One Family of Earthmates. Even that doesn't have excrement in it, though.**

**The next chapter is going to be super adorable, I promise!**

**Oh, and LOL at Raguna being an overprotective father...again. We're also going to get some more of that. XD  
**


	26. Namesake

Even though I had fallen asleep right after giving birth, I didn't actually get any rest for another half-hour or so. I wasn't expecting to get any sleep at all that night, but luckily, the bed in my recovery room was very comfortable, and I was able to drift off in a matter of minutes.

The next morning, I opened my eyes, and felt like the whole season of Summer had gone by. It was no longer unbearably hot, but there was still some sun streaming through my windows. As I looked around more, I noticed an array of envelopes and gifts, all of them blue and white. Finally, I heard something stirring, and I looked over in the direction where it had come from. I smiled as I saw Leif sleeping peacefully on the couch against the wall. The scene looked idyllic compared to the chaos of the night before, until I noticed that something was missing.

"Leif!" I whispered. He didn't budge, so I repeated his name, only a little louder that time. He opened his eyes quickly, and once he saw me, he sat up, and walked over to my bed.

"You're awake," he said sleepily. He kissed me on the forehead.

"Where's Gunie?" I asked.

"Getting shots," Leif replied, sitting down in a chair next to me. "He'll be done soon."

"And you've seen him?" I asked.

"Of course I have," Leif said. "He was up for a good amount of last night, so I had to make sure he didn't wake you up."

"And he's healthy?" I asked.

"Perfectly," Leif replied. "I made sure to count fingers and toes, so don't worry about that."

"Which one of us does he look more like?" I asked. He smiled at me.

"You'll see," he replied.

As if on cue, Lara walked into the room with a bundle of blankets in her arms. I sat up quickly to get a better look, but I couldn't see anything.

"He's immunized," she announced, smiling at us. "Leona, would you like to hold him?" I smiled back at her.

"Of course," I said. "If Leif can do it, then I definitely can." Lara chuckled, and walked over to me, handing me my swaddled baby boy. Shortly after, she left the room.

I looked at Gunie for some time; I was unable to take my eyes away. I knew every new mother always thought that her baby was the most beautiful in the world, but I was certain that mine could top them all. He had a full head of hair that was the same shade of brown as my own, and his skin was the same as mine too. I had never found my own features to be anything extraordinary, but they were stunning when projected onto a baby.

"He doesn't look like most other babies his age," Leif said, breaking the long silence. "But then again, most babies don't look so much like you." I rested a hand on Gunie's little head, and he slowly opened his eyes. They were blue, just like mine.

"He's beautiful," I said, my eyes filling with tears of joy. Gunie started closing his eyes again, and before long, I could tell he had fallen asleep.

"Really, Gunie?" Leif asked. "You're going to be good for Mommy but not Daddy?"

I looked down at Gunie once again, and I noticed something very familiar about his expression.

"Look!" I whispered to Leif. "Look at what he's doing!"

"He's sleeping," Leif replied.

"No!" I said. "His mouth is in that little pouty frown, just like you have when you're asleep!"

"I'll take your word for it," Leif said. "Considering I've never watched myself sleep."

"It's the same as when you're mad," I told him. "You just raise one side of your mouth."

"Well then," Leif said. "It looks like he has your good looks and my strange mannerisms." I kissed him on the cheek.

"What a great combination," I whispered.

I heard the door open again, and Lara walked into the room. The look on her face indicated something bad, and for a second, I was worried.

"You…have some visitors," she said. "All four grandparents and Eunice. They've been waiting since about seven."

"What time is it now?" I asked.

"Nine thirty," Lara replied. Leif opened his mouth in surprise.

"They're insane," I muttered. "All right, send them in." Lara gave me an apologetic look, but before she could leave, Mom, Dad, Rita, Turner, and Eunice came through the doorway.

"Where's that baby?" Eunice squealed. Leif and I shushed her quickly.

"Right here," I whispered. "And he's sleeping."

"So that means be quiet, Eunice," Leif added.

All five of them crowded around my bed, and there was a collective gasp shortly after.

"He has so much hair," Mom said.

"The little guy looks like his mom!" Turner exclaimed.

"Leona didn't have that much hair, though," Dad said.

"Leif did," Rita replied. Eunice wasn't saying anything, but her face made her look like she was going to explode from happiness. It was probably better that she didn't say anything.

"Anyway," Turner said. "Have you decided on a name?"

"I know what it is!" Eunice said excitedly. "It's Raguna!" Dad suddenly looked flabbergasted.

"Really?" Mist asked.

"Hey, Raguna!" Turner said cheerfully. "Your daughter must really like you to name her first kid after you!"

"Y-Yeah," Dad stammered. "I guess so." He slowly turned away, and walked toward the window.

"Dad?" I asked. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "Just a little…touched, that's all."

"Aw, honey," Mom said, going over to give him a hug.

"I'm all right, Mist," Dad said, changing his tone a little. He walked back over to me. "Now, I want to have another look at my namesake."

"Do you want to hold him?" I asked. "Unless anyone else wants to first." The last part was really meant to be courteous, because I could really tell how much Dad wanted to see him.

"Go ahead, Raguna," Turner said. Everyone else in the room nodded.

Once Dad had made his way over to me, I carefully handed Gunie over to him. I was nervous in doing so, since I hadn't had much practice even holding a baby.

"Don't be nervous," Mom said to me.

"She's right," Rita said. "They can sense nervousness, and then they'll start crying." By then, Gunie was in Dad's arms.

For a second, Dad just looked at his grandson, and I couldn't quite tell what he was thinking.

"It's hard to believe," he murmured. He looked up at me, and smiled. "You're going to be great at this. I know you are." I smiled, trying my hardest not to start crying.

"Aw," Eunice cooed from the other side of the room. "Look at him." I turned my attention to the couch where Leif had been asleep earlier, only to see that he had fallen asleep once again. Rita chuckled, and patted Leif on the head.

"He's not half bad either," Dad said softly.

I looked over once again at Leif, and thought about how much he cared, not only for me, but for Gunie as well. Even though he was probably exhausted from staying up all night with the baby, that frown on his face indicated nothing about the way he felt at that moment. I knew that.

"No," I replied. "He's not bad at all."

**A little note: If you were paying attention, you'll notice the comment about Leif and Gunie having the same frown. If you look at the drawings on my dA, you'll see that I had planned that from the beginning!**

**Yeah, that was a totally pointless note. Anyway, I'm trying to decide what to do in terms of storyline. I either want to go straight to part two of this, which takes place almost a year later, or if I want to write some more cute chapters leading up to part two. I'm leaving this partially in your hands. Choose well.  
**


	27. Sleep Deprived

Gunie had been home for almost a week, and things had been different in every possible way. Obviously, I knew having a baby around would call for some adjustments, but _everything _had changed. The times that Leif and I would have spent snuggling or having quiet relaxation time was constantly filled in with diaper changes, feedings, and trying to get Gunie to stay asleep for the duration of his nap.

Sleep for me was a thing of the past as well. From what I had read, newborns had no sense of night and day, since they couldn't see too well, and light was a fairly new concept to them anyway. So, whether he was crying or just "talking," Leif or I had to get out of bed to see what was going on.

One day, though, Leif would insist that he babysit while I took a short nap. He was no longer working, so it wouldn't be a burden for him to do so, and it was pretty convenient for me. So, I jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long.

"Leona?" Leif said in a panicked tone. I groaned and opened my eyes, only to see Leif, whose expression matched his tone of voice, standing by the bed with Gunie, who was wailing loudly, in his arms.

"What's wrong?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"I think that bottle I fed Gunie went bad," he said.

"What?" I asked, sitting up a little more quickly. "That's impossible! I just pumped that this morning!"

"It has to be!" he replied. "Because I fed it to him, and he started spewing this white shit out of his mouth and all over me!" He shifted Gunie slightly, and I could see the stain all over his shirt sleeve.

"Ugh!" I exclaimed. "Leif, why didn't you wash that off?"

"Because I didn't know what it was!" Leif cried. "Do you think we should call an exorcist?"

"No!" I replied. I got out of bed slowly, since I was still pretty sore, and walked over to them. "He just spit up on you, that's all."

"Really?" Leif asked. "But that doesn't look normal…" I took Gunie out of his arms, and inspected him to make sure he hadn't gotten any spit-up on himself. Once I saw that he hadn't, I held him closer, and rocked slightly in an attempt to calm him.

"Think about what he eats, Leif," I said quietly. I looked up at him, waiting for the reaction to show on his face.

"Oh," he said quickly, blushing a little.

Gunie's cries had quieted a little, and I smiled, stroking the hair on his soft little head.

"You sound like a Wooly when you cry," I cooed. I kissed him on the cheek. "Are you a little Wooly?"

"He's certainly a little monster," Leif said, laughing. "I'm going to go and take a bath. Do you mind watching him?"

"Go ahead," I said. "It'll stink if you don't, and the last thing we need around here is extra stench."  
"Love you too, dear," Leif said. He headed toward the bathroom, and shut the door behind him.

After a while, I could tell that Gunie had fallen asleep, and I figured it would be best just to put him in his crib and see if he would stay asleep a little longer. As I carried him to his room, I felt him put his little hand on the back of my neck. Even after ten days, I still couldn't believe that such small hands existed. It sounded silly, especially because I had held plenty of other babies, but I had never really noticed it before.

I looked over at the music box in Gunie's room, and turned the key until I heard the melody start to play. I was about to set Gunie in his crib, but I suddenly decided that I wanted to keep holding him a little longer.

I sat down in the comfortable chair in the nursery, holding Gunie close and humming along with the melody of the music box. As I looked at his face, I noticed that he wasn't frowning in that usual way of his. Instead, he looked more peaceful as he slept, and I smiled, rocking back and forth in the chair and hoping that he would stay asleep just long enough for me to regain some of my own calmness.

Finally, I heard the water in the bathroom stop running, and a few minutes later, Leif came into the nursery.

"I swear there's some favoritism going on," he whispered.

"Maybe," I replied jokingly. "I don't blame him, though."

Leif knelt down next to me, and brushed the back of Gunie's chubby little fist with his finger. His fist slowly opened, and Gunie wrapped his tiny fingers around Leif's. I smiled at how cute that was, and Leif laughed.

"It's the damndest thing," he murmured. "He always does that. But then again, one of the books said that babies his age are very…what was it…? Textile. That was the word."

"I think you misread it," I said. "It probably said 'tactile.' That means they have a tendency to touch things around them to see what they're like. I guess because of their eyes…" I looked over at Leif, and saw that he was blushing and looking down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "That was just embarrassing, that's all."

"Honey," I said. "I've seen you do things _ten times_ more embarrassing than mispronouncing words. And I don't mind any of them a bit."

"Hm," he said, a devilish look on his face. "So if I went around town in the middle of the summer, knocking on every door asking if they needed their snow shoveled, that wouldn't bother you?" I smiled.

"Don't push it," I told him jokingly. "Speaking of which, the Pumpkin Festival is coming up."

"We won't have time," Leif said.

"I know," I replied. "I was just thinking, though, if you _did _decide to do that, the Pumpkin Festival would be the day to do it."

"For sure," Leif said. "Although I don't know if the snow part would work, even if I said it was a prank or something."

"You could say you were drunk," I suggested.

"But I don't drink anymore," he said.

"That's true," I said.

There was a long pause before either of us spoke up.

"Leona," Leif finally said, looking up at me. "We are _so_ sleep-deprived." We simultaneously looked at Gunie, who was sleeping peacefully. If it had been anybody else, I would have been resentful.

"Yes," I said. "We are."

**Wow, an update! Finally!**

**Leif is such a cute daddy. And there will be plenty more of that, as well as other stuff I haven't decided on just yet.**

**So sorry this chapter was short. I'll make it up to you, and I mean it this time. XD  
**


	28. Laughter

Four months went by seemingly in the blink of an eye, and luckily, things started getting calmer. Gunie finally decided to start learning the basic concept of sleeping at night and being awake during the day, save for a few naps. He also was learning to connect with people; oftentimes when I held him, he would look up at me for long periods of time. He always got the funniest look on his face when he did. It was one of deep contemplation, which wasn't at all an expression I would have expected to see on a baby.

As adorable as it was, though, I couldn't help but wish for one thing: that one day, he would look up at me and _smile_.

"Do you think Gunie really knows who we are?" I asked Leif one late afternoon, while Gunie was down for his nap.

"Sure he does," Leif replied. "You're the one that has the food, and I'm the piss target." I rolled my eyes. Gunie had somehow managed to develop a habit of peeing on Leif during diaper changes. We couldn't quite figure out why, but after a week, Leif was starting to get a little annoyed with it.

"I told you," I said. "I'll ask Lara about that next time we see her. But seriously, do you think he knows who we are?"

"I don't know," Leif replied. "He's still so young." I sighed heavily. "Wait, is this about the smiling thing?"  
"Yes," I admitted.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Leif said. "He's going to do it eventually, and when he does, it's going to be worth the wait."

At that moment, cries came from the nursery, and Leif started to get up from his chair.

"I'll get him," Leif said. He walked down the hallway to the nursery, but a few minutes later, I heard him cry out, seemingly in frustration.

"What?" I asked, getting up and heading off toward the nursery.

"The little bastard peed on me again!" Leif cried. Once I got there, I saw that Leif had Gunie on the changing table. "I try to do you a favor, and _that's_ the thanks I get?"

"Honey!" I exclaimed, rushing over to the table to finish the diaper change. "Yelling at him isn't going to do any good. He doesn't know any better!"

"I'm going to go wash my face," Leif muttered. He walked quickly and angrily from the room, and I sighed.

"Don't think you're not a part of this, mister," I said to Gunie as I pinned his diaper in place. "Peeing on people is illegal in some places, and Daddy doesn't like it." He just looked up at me with those wide, adoring eyes. I started to laugh at his confused, yet mesmerized expression. "You're so precious!" I lifted him into the air, which I had been doing lately, since he had learned how to hold up his head, then held him close to me. I smiled at him, but he didn't smile back.

Leif came back into the room, still looking somewhat frustrated.

"I'm sorry," he said, sighing heavily. "I didn't mean to yell. It's just…a little annoying."

"I can understand," I replied. "What about you, Gunie? What do you want to say to Daddy?" I lifted him up, and handed him off to Leif. Just as Leif took him under the arms, though, Gunie sneezed right in his face, making sure to produce plenty of snot and drool along with it.

"Ugh!" Leif cried. "Seriously?"

But right then, I heard a high-pitched, gurgle of a laugh. I looked over at Gunie, who was in Leif's arms by then, and he had the broadest, happiest smile on his face. Gunie then looked at me, and laughed again, probably at my surprised look.

"Well, now!" I exclaimed. "That was worth the wait!"

"Yeah," Leif said, laughing. "A laugh at my expense! I should have known." I took Gunie out of Leif's arms, and lifted him in the air again.

"He looks so much like you when he smiles," I said, giving Gunie a kiss on his chubby little cheek.

"Hey," Leif said. "What about me?"

"Of course," I said. I kissed him on the cheek as well.

Gunie yawned, and stretched his little arms.

"Aw," I cooed. "Is somebody a sleepy boy?"

"Yes," Leif said.

"Seriously?" I asked him.

"No," Leif replied. "He should probably go back down for his nap. It's no fun for anybody when he's cranky."

I laid Gunie down in his crib and turned the key on the music box, while Leif turned off the lights. We quietly left the room, closing the door behind us.

"He'll be asleep soon enough," I whispered.

"Yeah," Leif replied. "Something about that music box is like a sedative to him."

For some reason, though, Gunie didn't go back to sleep, and he just made noise for the next half-hour. I decided to go take him out of his crib and play with him for a while. I figured that he might get tired if I did.

"He's being stubborn," I said to Leif.

"No kidding," Leif replied. "Are you going to try to deplete some of that energy?"

"You read my mind," I told him, getting up from my chair. Leif also got up from his chair, and we walked back to the nursery.

Sure enough, Gunie was giggling away in his crib.

"I think he's addicted to laughing," Leif said, turning the lights back on. I walked over to the crib and picked Gunie up.

"All right, Gunie," I said. "You win. We'll have playtime." I heard Leif getting out some toys behind me, and I turned around and sat on the floor.

Leif had gotten out a toy xylophone, which was a gift from Lara, and was hitting the mallet against the little metal plates. Gunie was immediately intrigued, and his blue eyes widened.

"Are you going to try it?" Leif asked him.

"He'll probably just put the mallet in his mouth," I said. Still, Gunie reached out his chubby little hand as if asking for it. "Okay, maybe not." Leif handed him the mallet, and pushed the xylophone toward him.

Gunie's hands were still learning how to grip, so he sometimes had trouble holding things for long amounts of time. Somehow, though, he had a firm grip on the mallet. He examined the xylophone for a moment, seemingly confused, so Leif took his hand and showed him how to hit the metal plates. After he let go of Gunie's hands, Gunie finally caught on, and hit one of the plates. He let out a little squeal of surprise, and looked over at me.

"That's good!" I encouraged him. He smiled back at me, and hit a different metal plate. Then, he looked over at Leif, and laughed.

"Is that funny?" Leif asked him. Gunie blew a raspberry, and laughed again.

"No," I said to Leif. "He's laughing at his musically-challenged Daddy."

"Very funny," Leif said.

We continued playing with Gunie for a little while longer, and for the rest of that time, I noticed that Leif was being very quiet, and he seemed spaced out.

"Is there something wrong?" I finally asked him.

"Not at all," Leif replied. He looked at me, right in the eyes. "I want to get married."

"I know," I said, laughing. "Why do you think I'm wearing this?" I held up my left hand and pointed to my engagement ring.

"No," he said. "I mean, I want to marry you…now."

**Leif, your spontaneity level just went off the charts. XD**

**I had to write a chapter about baby laughs. They're just so damn cute. And of course, Leif is always the one getting harassed by his own son.  
**


	29. An Elaborate Wedding

I stared at him for a good minute, barely blinking. Even Gunie stopped playing the xylophone.

"A-Are you serious?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Leif asked. "You yourself have said multiple times that it would be too stressful to have a formal wedding, especially with an infant involved. For example, who would watch Gunie during the ceremony, the reception, et cetera?"

"Well…ah," I stammered. "There's the…um…" I honestly couldn't think of a good argument…what was wrong with me?

"Come on, Leona," Leif teased. "I know you know more words than that. And if you need any more motivation, I have a thought for you: spit-up on your wedding dress."

"What is _your _motivation?" I asked.

"What's my motivation?" he repeated. "Let's see…I'm absolutely in love with you, we have a son, and why should we put it off any longer? Just to name a few."

"That's not what I meant!" I told him. "I mean, why now?"

"I just told you," he said. "So, what do you say?"

I thought for a second, and I almost considered saying no. But then, I looked down at Gunie, who had resumed playing and gurgling on the floor, and he looked back at me.

I thought it over again, and I realized Leif was right; we really had nothing to lose.

"All right," I said. "We'll get married tonight. But we have to tell my parents, and yours, too. And obviously Lara. She's the only one who can perform the ceremony."

"They're going to think we're insane," Leif said, smiling. "But that's the fun part."

After a while, we put Gunie back down for his nap, and he actually slept that time.

"I'll go over to my parents' house and tell them and Eunice," Leif said. "And then when I come back, you can go tell yours. Eight p.m. at the church, does that sound okay?" I nodded, and he kissed me on the cheek, and I smiled as I saw how hurriedly and excitedly he went out the door.

"So much like a kid," I said to myself. Maybe that's how he was so good with Gunie...they were both just a couple of kids.

As the minutes passed, I grew more and more anxious, wanting to hear what the reaction from Rita, Turner, and Eunice was. Knowing them, all was likely to end up all right. My assumptions were confirmed five minutes later when Leif came back with his face covered in Rita's lipstick, and slightly swollen cheeks, probably from Eunice pinching them to excess.

"I take it they were happy?" I asked jokingly.

"Yeah," Leif replied, sighing heavily and sitting down on the couch next to me. "Too happy." He rubbed his cheek, pouting.

"Twenty-one years old and you still have baby fat," I teased.

"I do _not!_" Leif protested. "I've _lost_ weight since I've starting working overtime for your dad!"

"I know," I told him. "I'm just kidding!"

"You'd better go tell your parents," Leif said, smiling at me. "Just a little reminder."

"Right," I said. I started to walk to the door, and with each step I took, my heart pounded. "I'm nervous."

"Don't be," he said. "Now, you go on. I'll watch Gunie while you're out." I sighed, and opened the door, but I stopped quickly in the doorway.

"Oh," I said to Leif. "And if I'm not back in time, make sure you feed him if he wakes up early. If you don't, he'll be cranky lat-"

"Leona," he said. "It's okay, I know how it all works." His smile was one of amusement, and I smiled back at him as I left the house.

The sun was starting to go down, and the dead Autumn leaves crunched under my feet. The wind blew a little, stirring the neatly-raked piles of leaves, and I frowned; Leif had worked so hard the previous Holiday clearing up those leaves, and it was very difficult to convince him that, although it was nice having the house clean, inside and out, he didn't need to do backbreaking yard work over it.

I finally got to my parents' house, and I opened the door without even thinking to knock. Dad, who was sitting at the table with an old forge recipe book in his hands, but he jumped up once he saw me.

"Leona?" he exclaimed. "What's the matter? Is everything all right?"

"Yes, Dad," I replied. "Everything's fine, but I need to talk to you and Mom about something." Dad raised an eyebrow, as though he didn't believe that I wasn't in some sort of life-threatening situation.

"Mist!" he called upstairs. "Leona's here to see us!" Within a few seconds, Mom came down the stairs.

"Oh, hello," she said. "Leona, you look like you've lost weight."

"Um...I probably have," I said. "It's been four months."

"Anyway," Dad said, probably trying to stifle any other random comments that Mom had. "Leona has something to talk to us about."

"Yes," I said. "Leif and I want to get married."

"Oh, we already knew that," Mom said. "Did you forget, Leona?"

"No," I said. "I mean, we wanted to get married tonight."

The room fell completely silent.

"When...did you decide that?" Dad asked.

"A few hours ago," I replied. "No time like the present, right? Anyway, if you want to come and watch the ceremony-" Mom and Dad interrupted me by hugging me.

"Of course we'll be there," Mom said.

"I think you've inherited some of your mother's spontaneity," Dad said. "But if you and Leif want to get married tonight, then by all means, go ahead!" I hugged them back.

"Thank you," I told them. "I should go now. Leif is at home with Gunie, and God only knows what's going on." I quickly started to leave; even though I was joking, there was still a part of me that was definitely worried.

"Wait," Dad said. "Where will it be, and what time?"

"Eight, at the church," I replied. "See you then." I opened the door, left the house, and closed the door behind me.

"How did it go?" Leif asked me once I got home. I could hear the apprehension in his voice.

"They're very excited to be there," I replied. Leif sighed. "What, did you really think they'd say no?"

"Yeah, kind of," Leif admitted. "But that doesn't really matter anymore, I guess."

"No," I replied. "It doesn't."

"So what are we going to do until eight?" Leif asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "Hope that Gunie stays asleep, for sure. It's only another hour, though. There's not much we _can _do other than that."

I heard the cries come from Gunie's room once again, and Leif and I both sighed.

"I'll get him," Leif said, slowly getting up from the couch. He walked down the hall toward the nursery, and came back a few minutes later with Gunie, who he had dressed in his pajamas.

"What did you change his clothes for?" I asked.

"He peed through his diaper, and his clothes were soaked," Leif replied. "Besides, it's getting kind of late, and who knows? Maybe he'll get tired just from wearing his pajamas." I stretched my arms out, and Leif handed Gunie to me. I held him, softly patting his little head.

"Yes," I cooed. "That's my favorite little boy."

"Hey," Leif said, sitting down next to me and scooting close.

"Sorry," I told him. "I always forget that you're younger than I am."

Gunie started tugging at the collar of my shirt, and I sighed, knowing what that meant.

"Hungry," I muttered. I started undoing my blouse, and Leif stiffened a little. "Oh, come on, you still haven't gotten used to this?"

"No," he replied. "I...just don't want to see anything that reminds me of how _deprived_ I am."

"Sorry," I said. "We've both been too tired."

"What?" he asked. "I thought it was because Lara said we had to wait!"

"That was almost two months ago," I said, laughing. "It's fine now."

"W-Why didn't you tell me?" he stammered.

"You never asked," I replied.

"Because I thought there was no way!" he replied. "Oh, well..." I laughed again upon seeing that he was pouting, arms crossed and all, and his cheeks had a slight blush to them.

Before we knew it, it was time to head over to the church. As we walked, Leif and I seemed to share the same thoughts.

"I'm glad we're just having a small ceremony," Leif said.

"Me too," I said, holding Gunie close to me. "I look like hell, and from what I know about wearing formal attire, nursing a baby in a wedding gown is probably next to impossible."

"He's hungry _again?_" Leif asked. I shrugged, and Leif sighed and opened the door to the church. "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter if you feed him or not. After all, nobody but family is going to be there."

Instantly, we were mobbed by Doriane, Luna, and Irwen.

"How could you not invite us to your wedding?" Irwen asked jokingly.

"Look at you three!" Doriane exclaimed. "Unbrushed hair, comfortable clothing, no belt on the groom, _two_ counts of stained clothing, and a baby in his pajamas! Hardly church attire, let alone something to get married in!" Gunie looked up at me, seemingly very confused by all of the excitement.

Mom came walking up to us, smiling cheerfully.

"I invited them," Mom announced.

"I'm sure you did," I said, rolling my eyes. I turned to smile back at my friends. "Well, I can't exactly kick you out."

"That's right," Luna said. "Especially since my mother is going to do the ceremony."

As if on cue, Lara came rushing out from the back of the church, holy book in hand.

"All right," she said. "Everyone is here that should be?"

"Looks like it," Leif replied.

"I take it by your appearances that you want the fastest version?" she asked.

"Absolutely," I said. "As short as it can be while still being valid. The baby has to get to sleep soon."

"Okay," she said. "I'll start with Leif. Leif Horatio, do you take this woman to be your wife for as long as you both shall live?" Leif smiled, and paused a brief moment, looking into my eyes.

"I do," he said.

"And do you," Lara continued. "Leona Sharisa, take this man to be your husband for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," I said.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," Lara said quickly. "You may kiss the bride."

He kissed me briefly, and that was it. The small group of people applauded.

"How do you like that, Gunie?" Leif asked, touching his little hand. "Was that enough for your attention span?" I laughed, but at that point, Gunie was already asleep. And as our family and some friends came up to congratulate us, I honestly wished that I could do the exact same thing.

**Wow, long chapter. Was it worth the wait? :P**

**I want to try to finish this one soon so I can get to work on the main storyline, but knowing me, I won't rush. And not much else to say right now, other than, "Please review!"**


	30. Tragedy

By the tenth month of his life, Gunie had already made such a mark on Leif's life and mine that it was hard for us to imagine what the house was like without him, even though it hadn't been that long ago.

I was almost always with him, and I grew to know his personality very well, even though he constantly seemed to be changing, and mostly, learning. But on many days, though, the learning seemed to be more of a curse than a blessing.

The first major discovery for him at almost six months old was crawling, and at almost eight months, he was trying to stand on his own. But the fact that he could move around made things quite a figurative headache.

In terms of literal headaches, though, he had also figured out uses for his own voice. Most of the time, it was just babbling, but occasionally, he would scream loudly, and for no apparent reason. Luckily, Leif would already be up to go and work on the farm when Gunie would start shrieking out happily at six in the morning. Unfortunately for me, though, Leif would eventually have to leave, and that meant I would have to deal with Gunie while I was still half asleep.

At that point, it was also getting closer to Spring, but not close enough so that people could leave their houses for long periods of time. So, Luna, Doriane, and sometimes Irwen would come over with their children. Of course, Irwen didn't always come over, because her daughter, two-month-old Amy, still required a lot of attention.

The playdates were always interesting, though certainly chaotic, though one day, things went a little differently than usual.

"Hugh is always so well-behaved," Luna said, sighing heavily.

"Helena is, too," Doriane assured her. "She always plays so nicely with Hughie." One of the kids screamed, and everyone turned their heads to see which one.

"It's Gunie," I said nonchalantly. And just as I had guessed, there he was on the floor, laughing his little diapered ass off at everyone who had expressed concern.

"Wow!" Doriane said, shaking her head in amazement. "He still gets me every time."

"Sebastian!" Luna cried, taking him by the hand. "You are _not _going to take things from your sister anymore!" She sighed tiredly again. "Helena's too nice, and Sebastian's starting to really show an aggressive side! I don't know what to do..."

"You're sleepier than usual, Luna," I said.

"Yeah," she replied. "I guess so."

Meanwhile, Irwen had gone back to fussing over Amy.

"I don't know why she always makes that face at me," Irwen said. "It's so strange!"

"You mean that really pissed-off-looking one?" Doriane asked.

"Well...yeah," Irwen replied. "She always looks so annoyed at me for some reason!"

"I think every baby has some sort of face that they always make," I said. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Gunie always looked like he was really deep in thought when he was younger."

"_Mommy!_" one of the children shrieked. It was Hugh, crying out because Sebastian had a fistful of his hair, and was yanking on it.

"No, Sebastian!" Luna scolded, prying Sebastian's chubby fingers away from Hugh's hair. She put Sebastian on her lap and held him there, and he immediately started to flail around and scream.

"No!" he howled. "Down! _Down now!_"

Luna looked as though she was about to start crying as she restrained him, and I didn't blame her. I went over to Gunie's playpen in the corner of the room, and pulled it over to where Luna was sitting. She quickly put Sebastian in the playpen, and promptly started to remove the toys from it.

She quickly buried her face in her hands and sighed, and Helena toddled up to her.

"Mommy sad?" she asked in her sweet little voice. I could tell by the look on Luna's face that she wasn't quite sure how to respond. "'Lena hug Mommy." She climbed up into her lap and gave her a hug.

Sebastian had calmed down somewhat, or at least stopped screaming. He was digging his nails into the mesh siding of the playpen, gritting the teeth he had, and growling like an animal. Even though he was barely over a year old, it was still terrifying, somehow.

Meanwhile, Hugh had gone back to playing, and Gunie had started crawling over to Irwen.

"Hello there, Gunie," she said, smiling at him. Gunie smiled right back, and then pointed to Amy, wrapped in her blankets.

"That's baby Amy," I said, getting down on the floor with him. He reached out his hand and tugged on the blankets. "No, that's not yours, Gunie, you have your own blankets."

"I can't believe how smart he is," Irwen said. "It's almost as though he understands everything you say."

"Well," I said taking Gunie in my arms. "We'll know that for sure when he starts talking." I gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he squealed happily.

Suddenly, something came flying through the air, and it took me a moment to realize what had happened. Sebastian had thrown a toy out of the playpen, and it had hit Gunie right in the head.

"Sebastian!" Luna cried.

I hugged Gunie with the expectation that he would start crying, but for some reason, he wasn't. I suddenly felt something drip onto my hand, and once I realized what it was, my heart started pounding.

"Gunie?" I asked. I turned him to face me, and the sight of his face almost turned my stomach. His eyes were closed, and he was bleeding profusely out of his nose. "Oh my God. Gunie, sweetie?" No response.

With that, I started running from the house toward the clinic with Gunie in my arms. I had never been more terrified in my life. As I ran, I checked his pulse, and I was relieved to feel that it was still beating.

I stopped in front of the clinic, and ran inside. Luckily, Lara came running immediately.

"Leona?" she asked. "Is everything all right?" I was so out of breath that all I could do was hold out my arms to show her my unconscious child.

"I...I don't know," I panted. She quickly took Gunie away and started off with him, and I followed.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Sebastian hit him in the head with a toy," I replied, tears filling my eyes. "I didn't bother to look at what it was. Right after that...his nose started bleeding and he wouldn't respond to anything I said." By then, we were already into one of the rooms.

"I'm going to do everything I can to wake him up," Lara said, placing him onto a cot of some sort. "And after that, some examinations. You should go get Leif in case this is serious."

"But..." I started to protest.

"He's going to be all right," Lara assured me.

Just as I started to leave, I heard someone running into the clinic, and Leif almost ran into me.

"Leona, what's wrong?" he panted. "Doriane came over and said that I needed to come here. Is it Gunie?" I nodded, and the tears started back up.

"He's...unconscious," I sobbed. "Sebastian threw something at him, and it hit him in the head."

"Is he going to be okay?" Leif asked, a look of horror on his face.

"I don't know..." I admitted.

Leif hugged me, and right as he did, I heard a familiar cry.

"Thank God," Leif murmured.

"He's okay," I said, exhaling. We started to walk quickly back to the room where Gunie was, and I was relieved to see that Lara was wiping the blood off his face. He was whimpering softly, but he was fine.

But then, I noticed the strangest thing: even though I was standing right in his line of sight, he didn't react at all. Usually when he saw me or Leif, he would smile happily, laugh, or acknowledge us in some way. Instead, he just stared straight ahead.

I heard Lara exhale shakily, and she turned around to face us.

"It's almost certain, then," she said, tears forming in her eyes.

"What is?" Leif asked. Gunie seemed to calm down upon hearing his voice, but for some reason, he looked around, and he seemed disoriented.

"Touch his hand," Lara said. "And maybe I can confirm my thoughts..."

Leif walked over to Gunie, and did as Lara said. As he brushed a finger over Gunie's little hand, which seemed to startle him.

"Now try talking to him," Lara said.

"Hey, buddy," Leif said. Once again, Gunie looked around. "Gunie." Gunie put his hands out and moved them around, and eventually, found Leif's hand. At that point, he smiled a little, but then, he put his hands over his eyes, and took them off, then did it again.

"What's he doing?" I asked.

"He's trying to find out where he is," Lara said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, even though I was almost entirely sure of what she would say next.

"I want to run more tests," she said. "But judging by his behavior...somehow, Gunie has gone blind."

**This is where Part II of the story really kicks off, and it's going to be sad, just to warn you ahead of time...**


	31. Tears

I clasped my hands over my mouth, and tears quickly spilled from my eyes. He really couldn't see...

"H-How...?" I stammered.

"I don't know for sure," Lara said, her voice starting to shake as well. "It could be any number of things...and I don't think he can be treated here. From what I can tell...his symptoms match up with a brain tumor..."

Gunie started to cry, and he clutched at his head. Leif picked him up, and held him. Through my own blurry eyes, I could see Leif biting his lip.

"Shh," he hushed. "D-Daddy's here..." Gunie dug his fingernails into Leif's shirt, and I walked over to them and laid a hand on Gunie's trembling back.

"If he does have a tumor," Lara said, wiping her eyes. "It's entirely possible that, when Sebastian threw the toy at Gunie's head, it shook something there and shifted the growth, which caused the sudden blindness and nosebleed."

I bit my lip; even though Sebastian was trying to be aggressive, we probably wouldn't have found out that Gunie was so sick until much later if it hadn't been for him.

"So...what should we do?" Leif asked.

"Go to the capital as soon as you can," Lara said. "Don't bother to get a carriage. It'll take far too long for it to get here. Leona, you should ask Raguna about getting some monsters ready for a trip there." I nodded, and I started walking away.

To my surprise, though, Dad came through the front door right as I got to the waiting room.

"Leona, what's going on?" he asked. "Doriane practically dragged Leif away from the field! I assumed it was an emergency, so I finally came here. Did something happen to Gunie?"

Once again, I started sobbing, but that time, I couldn't even bring myself to speak. Dad came over to me, and hugged me.

"Leona, sweetheart," he coaxed. "What happened?"

"Gunie...m-might have..." I stammered in between sobs. "H-Have a...brain tumor..."

"Oh God," Dad murmured.

"He...he's blind n-now, too," I continued. "And he's...in a...a lot of p-pain!"

At that point, I couldn't do anything but cry, and it took me a few minutes before I could calm down enough to tell Dad what we were planning to do.

"We need to borrow some monsters for the trip," I told him. "The fastest ones you have, probably wolves. Getting a carriage will take too long. And we'll probably need some sleeping bags too, since we might have to camp out."

"I'll get them ready right now," he said, letting go of me. "Go get Leif, and you two can pack some necessities while Lara keeps an eye on Gunie."

Dad went running out of the clinic, while I ran to go get Leif. The tears started up again at the thought of looking into my baby's sightless eyes, but I wiped them away just in time to get to the room where Lara, Leif, and Gunie were. By then, Gunie had stopped crying, and he was softly whimpering in Leif's arms.

"Leif," I said. "We need to get some stuff together for the trip. Dad's getting some wolves ready for us right now so we can leave for Palermo as soon as possible." I looked over at Lara. "Is there any way you could watch Gunie for a little while?"

"Of course," Lara said. "In fact, it would probably be best if he stayed with me for now, just in case anything else happens."

As Leif and I were leaving, my friends were coming in.

"Leona!" Doriane cried. "What happened? Is Gunie okay?" I noticed that Luna was crying, and the sight of her combined with what I would have to tell them made me want to cry too. Luckily, Lara intervened.

"I'll tell them, Leona," she called from the examination room. "For now, you two need to get everything together for your trip."

"We're going to the hospital in Palermo," I said quickly. "So we need to pack." I looked over at Luna. "It's not Sebastian's fault. We wouldn't have known that Gunie was sick if it weren't for him." With that, we left.

On the walk home, neither of us said anything. I guess we were just trying to fully process the news. I knew I was, anyway. But once we got home, I found out what Leif was thinking. He looked at me with tear-filled eyes, and tried to get some words out.

"I...w-we...don't..." he stammered. It was obvious that he was about to break down, but he just wouldn't let himself. I hugged him tightly as my eyes clouded over again.

"Leif, honey," I said, trying to stay strong. "It's...it's okay to cry...in...in front of me."

He hugged me back, clinging tightly to me as if his life depended on it, and broke down.

"I don't...want to lose him," Leif said in between sharp breaths.

"We won't," I said. "There's good medicine in the capital...they...they can help him."

"He's hurting so bad, Leona," he said. "And he has...t-to be scared...suddenly not being able to...see anything..." At that point, I was in tears again.

"We need to pack," I told him. "I don't know how long we'll be in Palermo, but don't pack anything you won't need overnight." Leif nodded, and we started off toward the bedroom.

We took the smallest pieces of luggage possible for us, but we allowed for plenty of other things for Gunie. Once we had finished, we headed over to Mom and Dad's farmhouse, where two wolves sat out front with sleeping bags at their feet. Mom, Dad, and Lara were also there. Mom was holding Gunie and rocking him back and forth gently, while Lara approached us quickly with some more bags.

"These herbs should calm him down if he's crying in pain," she said, handing the bags to me. "I already gave him some, since he seemed tired. But use them sparingly until you get to the capital, because he'll most likely need him when he has to sleep. And...I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you," I said.

Mom came up to me next.

"He's a very strong child," she told us, sounding more serious than I had ever heard her. She handed me a large, faded blanket. "I used to use this to carry you when you were little, and later on, when it was cold out. I thought it would be good for you to have on this trip since you won't be able to carry him any other way." I smiled.

"Thank you so much, Mom," I said.

"Leif," Dad said. "Remember the knot I taught you when we were tying down that troublesome buffamoo?"

"Yeah," Leif replied. "You told me not to forget it."

"I certainly did," Dad said. "Because that's the knot you need to use to make sure that baby stays close to Leona." Mom handed Gunie to me, and started deftly wrapping the blanket around us. Once Gunie was secure enough, Dad tied the knot while Leif observed.

"Be brave, you three," Mom said, hugging us. Dad joined in the hug as well.

"I've already sent a letter to your parents and Eunice explaining what happened," Dad told Leif. "So they'll know."

"Thank you," Leif said.

Leif and I mounted our wolves, who now had all of the bags secured against their saddles.

"I'm on Snow, right?" I asked.

"Yes," Dad replied. "And Leif has Blizzard. I tried to pick the ones that were young enough to have a lot of energy for the trip, but were tame enough that they would listen to you." He paused. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," Leif and I replied.

"All right, Leona," Dad said. "You know the command." I nodded, and whistled loudly.

With that, the wolves started to run, and we were officially on our journey.

**I'm glad to have another chapter up so soon. Or at least, it seems that way.**

**Yeah, my mom is hounding me to go to bed, though, and I don't have anything else too interesting to say, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next.**


	32. The Trip to Palermo

Nightfall was approaching, and the wolves were slowing down.

"It's getting late," I told Leif. "We should look for someplace to camp out."

"I was thinking the same thing," Leif said. "How's Gunie doing?"

I looked down at the baby tied to my chest and smiled. I could tell he was getting tired, and it seemed like he wasn't in too much pain, for the time being.

"Sleepy," I finally replied. "And he probably needs a diaper change, now that I think about it. He just hasn't bothered to complain."

"Hold on a second," Leif said. "Do you hear that? It sounds like water."

"Let's follow the sound," I said. "Blizzard and Snow are probably thirsty."

Leif and Blizzard started off into a wooded area, and I followed closely behind. It didn't take us long to find a creek in a clearing.

"Good ear," I told Leif. I got off Snow's back, and led her over to the stream. Leif did the same with Blizzard, and the wolves drank happily.

"Should we tie them up for the night?" Leif asked.

"Probably not," I replied. "They're tame enough that they won't run away, and if anything threatening comes along, they'll be able to scare it off. They might go off to find food, too."

"All right," Leif said, smiling at me. But then, his face contorted into a horrified expression. "Leona, his nose..."

"Oh God!" I cried, starting to panic.

"Hold onto him," Leif said. "I'm going to untie this thing." He went behind me, and almost immediately untied the blanket.

"Gunie, sweetie," I said urgently.

Gunie coughed a little, which sent spatters of blood flying onto my face. He opened his eyes, and attempted to look around before he must have realized he couldn't see. He started to cry softly, and I held him close to me.

"You were sleeping," I said gently. "I know, sweetie, but I didn't want you to choke."

"That probably startled him more than anything," Leif said, patting Gunie on the back. "Hang in there, buddy. You're going to be okay." I kissed Gunie on the head.

"You're my strong little man," I told him.

He snuggled up against me, but he was moving his hand around my chest and neck, obviously searching for something. Eventually, his hand stopped on the collar of my shirt, and he tugged on it.

"And you're hungry, too," I cooed.

"He should probably get cleaned up first," Leif said. "You too, honey. You're both covered in blood."

"That creek looks really cold, though," I said. "He might not like that."

"Dip his hand in it first," Leif said, shrugging. "Then it won't be so much of a surprise."

"What if he catches a cold?" I asked. As if a response, Leif started to take off his shoes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to test it out," he replied.

"Are you crazy?" I asked. "We're out in the middle of nowhere, and we might not be at the capital until sometimes tomorrow! You can't have wet clothes!" Gunie gurgled something; I smiled, since that meant he was probably feeling better. Seconds later, though, I heard a splash. I looked up, and my eyes widened upon seeing Leif's head come up from the water.

"Holy shit!" he cried. "That water's cold!"

"That's what I told you," I replied. "And how did you get rid of your clothes so quickly?"

"Talent," he replied. "Now come get in the water, both of you."

"Gunie can't get sick," I reminded him.

"We've got plenty of blankets," Leif pointed out. I sighed.

"I think I'll just wash my face," I said. "And I'll let him decide if the water is too cold."

I carried Gunie over to the bank of the creek, and bent down so he could touch the water.

"Water," I said. He slowly reached out his hand, and once his hand went underwater, he quickly pulled it out, shivering. "I guess not."

I cupped my hands and started to wash the blood off Gunie's face. He shivered a little, and reached out his hand.

"It's almost gone," I told him. "Then, you won't have to have that cold water on your face anymore." I looked over at Leif, who was still wading around in the creek. "Daddy's crazy for swimming in there."

"A-da-da-da?" Gunie said.

"Yes," I said. "He _is _crazy." I started to lift him up to give him a kiss on the cheek, but then, I realized something. "Leif...did he just...?"

"Talk?" Leif asked, laughing. "Yeah, I think that qualifies."

"He says things like that all the time," I said. "But he's never directly expressed association between 'da-da' and you. Besides, he's still a little young for actual words."

"I'm not sure," he said. "It sounded pretty convincing to me. But one thing I _do _know is that I'm getting out of here."

Leif started to climb out of the water, grabbing his clothes as he did. Once he was dressed, he crouched down next to us.

"Here," I said. "Hold him for a bit. I'm going to wash my face." I handed Gunie to Leif, and started to get the blood off my own face. Suddenly, though, Gunie started whimpering, but Leif held him tightly.

"You're okay," he coaxed. "It's just Dada, you said so yourself a minute ago."

Gunie seemed to settle down a little, obviously realizing it was only Leif holding him.

"Da...da..." Gunie cooed softly. I smiled; he really _was _talking. At ten months old, he was forming words.

"That's my boy," Leif said. "Now you just need to learn 'mama.'"

"They say that one comes a little later," I said. "That's apparently difficult for any child to say at first. But who knows? Maybe he'll say it tomorrow." Leif laughed.

"Speaking of tomorrow," he said. "We should get the sleeping bags set up."

"Definitely," I replied.

We managed to get the sleeping bags unrolled, and once I saw them, I realized just how tired I was. They looked so warm.

"Gunie can sleep in mine," I said.

"Sure," Leif agreed. "But let's scoot the sleeping bags together and have him in the middle. That way, one of us is bound to respond if he wakes up crying."

"Right," I said.

I took Gunie's hand, making sure to let him know I was there.

"Gunie," I said. He looked around for a moment, trying to find me. "It's...time for bed." My eyes were filling with tears again. But then, Gunie reached up to my face and laid his hand on my cheek.

"Ba...a-da," he said. His face looked concerned, despite the fact that he wasn't looking at me. I couldn't help but laugh as I cried. He seemed so serious.

Leif gently hugged me.

"See?" he asked. "Even _he _knows that everything is going to be all right."

As much as I wished there was no doubt as to whether or not he would be okay, I knew that there was. For the time being, all I could really do was hope.

**Kind of a bleak note to end the chapter on, but necessary. :(**

**I know I've been lazy about uploading anything, and I'm going to try to be better about it. Video games are taking over my life.**

**And I loved writing the baby talk in this chapter...it's just too adorable!**


	33. Feeling Faint

In all the time I had lived in the capital, I had never been to the main hospital, so I had never known what a depressing place it was.

Of course, having a child that needed a risky medical procedure done in order to _possibly_ save his life could make anything seem unbearably dismal.

The tumor itself was benign, but it needed to be removed nonetheless. The risk was more in the surgery, which would remove the main part of the tumor, and, if all went well, it would be followed by additional treatment that would hopefully get rid of any remnants that might be left over.

The surgery was scheduled for the next day, and Leif and I were going to stay at the hospital overnight so we could be there in case anything worsened before then. But Gunie wouldn't be able to stay with us, and even though I understood why, it was hard.

"It's all going to be okay," Leif said as we both hugged Gunie. He was calm for the time being, just content that his head wasn't hurting, and he knew we were there. But the second I handed him off to one of the nurses, he started to cry. All of my willpower to hold back tears disappeared immediately.

"H-He...knows...I'm not holding h-him," I whispered, trying not to lose control entirely. "He's...he's terrified." Leif hugged me even tighter.

"If you want," he said. "We can be in the room while they run all of the tests." I looked up at him.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied gently. "He might feel a little better if we're there." I nodded, and we followed the nurses down the hall.

The room where they would be running further tests was bigger than most hospital rooms I'd seen, and it was filled with strange-looking machines, as well as other medical supplies that I recognized.

They set Gunie down on an exam table, but he immediately started trying to get away.

"Ma'am, can you help us out?" one of the nurses asked me.

"Y-Yeah," I stammered, wiping my eyes quickly before making my way over to the chaos.

I took Gunie's little hand and held it. At that point, he was screaming, but his crying quieted once he knew I was there.

"Baby," I cooed. His screams had turned into quiet little whimpers. "Yes, that's my brave little boy. It's all going to be okay. Mama's here."

Another nurse came over to us, and I felt my pulse quicken as I saw that she had a large syringe in her hand.

"We're going to do several blood tests," she said, obviously sensing my discomfort. But the explanation only made me feel worse.

As they wiped down Gunie's arm, I started to feel nauseous, and I could _feel _the color draining from my face. But once the needle stuck into his arm, and he cried out, my vision started getting blurry.

"Are you okay?" the nurse asked. I felt my eyes start to close.

"Yeah..." I said hoarsely. But that was so false it normally would have made me laugh.

And unfortunately, I proved it seconds later when I felt my head hit the floor.

What seemed like not too much later, I opened my eyes and found myself in an unfamiliar bed in a room with no light other than the light coming through a translucent curtain covering a window. I could hear the sound of running water coming from another room. Still unsure of where I was, I looked for any signs of familiarity.

Suddenly, the sound of the water stopped, and out of curiosity, I tried to sit up. The second I lifted my head, though, it started throbbing in pain. Soon after, I saw a towel-clad Leif come out of what I assumed was the bathroom.

The look on his face pained me. Normally when he got out of the bath, his cheeks would be rosy and his expression was always happy. And just to tease me, he'd shake the water out of his hair like an animal, making sure to get me all wet. His demeanor was almost childlike. But as I looked at him, even in the dim light, he seemed like a different person. He looked tired, but not like the normal sleep-deprived look he had when Gunie was a newborn. It was more like the face of a person who had been kept up all night by a nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep. And his face was pale, except for redness around his eyes.

He must have noticed that I had regained consciousness, though, because he tried to force a smile.

"You're awake," he said. "Don't try to sit up. Just warning you in advance."

"Too late," I said quietly. Leif nodded, and we were silent as he got dressed. Once he had, he sat on the edge of the bed next to me.

"You really hit your head hard," he said. "I was really worried." He looked down, and the longer parts of his hair hung in front of his face.

"How is Gunie?" I asked. He rubbed his eyes.

"The same," he said, sighing. "He hasn't been crying so much anymore, but he finally wore himself out. He's sleeping now." He let out another heavy breath, but this one was more shaky. I sat up slowly, wincing at the pain, and I took one of his hands and held it. He kissed me on the head, but quickly turned away again.

"Is something else wrong, honey?" I asked.

"No," he said nonchalantly. "Why would you think that?"

"You won't look at me," I replied, leaning against him. "And you're pale. Your eyes look like you've been rubbing them, too." He sighed again.

"I should have known you'd notice," he said. He turned his eyes to me briefly. "I'm kind of a sissy when it comes to dealing with my own nausea."

"You're sick?" I asked.

"I was," he replied. He shook his head. "Almost twenty-two and I still cry like a baby when I throw up."

"Do you need me to call a doctor?" I asked. "You could have caught something from that creek." I started to get up, but Leif took my hand, and I stopped.

I looked down at him, head still hanging low, and his shoulders slightly hunched.

"Leona," he said quietly. He breathed in sharply. "It's because..." He suddenly looked up at me, and I saw that tears were already spilling from his eyes. "Because...I'm scared."

My eyes filled with tears upon seeing him cry, and I sat back down and hugged him.

"I am too," I said to him.

"I've been trying so hard to keep it together," he said. "Because I don't want to upset you. I love you..."

"Leif, honey," I said softly. "Don't you remember what I told you? This is a frightening time. You can cry if you need to, especially if it means not making yourself sick." I kissed him on the cheek. "We both need to stay strong and healthy so our son can see how happy we are that he's okay. Once he regains his sight, I want him to see our smiling faces."

"Y-Yeah," Leif said. "You're right. And...he will."

**Although this wasn't the happiest chapter, I'm glad I finally finished it. I'm not used to having my most recent update be on the second page. XD**

**And I'm sorry the chapter was short, too. And that it was technically a filler. But that just means the important stuff is going to happen soon.**


	34. Stranger

On the day of Gunie's surgery, I was tense, as expected. Leif was equally tense as well, and we avoided speaking to each other. We both knew that the last thing we needed was for our tempers to flare up.

Gunie had already gone under the anesthesia, but we didn't have any kind of time estimate on when the surgery might be over. It made sense, though; the procedure hadn't been done very often, so how could they really know? So, Leif and I sat, anxiously and helplessly, in a hallway outside of the room where the surgery was taking place.

I tried to focus my mind on something, anything but what was going on in that room. I had almost found something happy to think about when a nurse I recognized walked by.

"Excuse me," I said quietly. She turned to look at me. "Um...the procedure that they're doing on my son...how many times has it been done before?" The nurse was obviously trying to keep optimistic, I could tell just by the change in her expression.

"Don't you worry," she said, smiling at me. "Your son will be fine." I decided to try a different tactic: glaring at her until she told me the truth. "So far, it's been done...thirty-five times."

"And...how many survived?" I asked, my hands shaking. The nurse bit her lip.

"Thirty," she replied after a long pause. I felt my stomach lurch tremendously. The outcome was overall favorable, but still...five children were dead because of it. I tried to tell myself Gunie was _not _going to be number six, but the thought kept coming back into my head.

The nurse quickly walked away, and I leaned back in my chair, my breathing shallow and my pulse at high speed. But then, I noticed that Leif was looking at me, but in a less-than-favorable way.

"What the hell, Leona?" he spat.

"I wanted to know," I explained.

"Well, I didn't," he shot back. "And I think you knew full well I was within earshot."

"It's good know what we're getting into," I said.

"We're already in it," he growled. "And there's no point in questioning it now." I sighed, because I knew he was right. There wasn't a thing we could do.

"I'll be right back," I muttered, getting up from my chair. I started to walk quickly away from him, not even bothering to hear anything he might possibly say.

I didn't exactly know where I was going, but I kept walking. I had to think of somewhere I could go where he wouldn't bother me. But then, I passed the bathroom.

_Perfect, _I thought angrily. I went over to the door, opened it, and stepped inside.

There were a couple of chairs just inside the room, and I sat down in one and sighed. As peaceful as the environment seemed at the time, I had to do something to occupy my mind. If I let it wander anymore, I might just lose it.

But that peace and quiet quickly went away as a girl with a screaming baby in her arms hurried into the room and sat down across from me.

"Please," she said to the crying child. She looked like she was going to burst into tears. She looked at me. "You don't mind if I feed him, do you?"

"Of course not," I replied. "Why would I?"

"Well," she said, a slight blush coming to her face. "I've heard some people get uncomfortable when they see a woman nursing a baby." She started to undo the front of her shirt, and my eyes widened.

"Wait a second," I said. "I did you just say you were going to breastfeed your _brother_?"

"He's not my brother," she said, positioning the baby in front of her chest and throwing a blanket over herself. "He's my son."

"Oh," I said, not entirely sure of how to respond to that statement. The girl looked so young, no older than sixteen years old. But then again, she and the baby _did _have the same reddish-brown hair. Suddenly, her brown eyes, which had looked so tired before, shot me a cold glare.

"Yeah," she spat. "That's what everyone else says."

"But...you're just a kid," I said, still in shock.

"Technically," she said contemptuously. "I just turned seventeen. Are you done judging me now, since you apparently know everything about me?" I looked at her with a mix of anger and disbelief.

"Do you normally talk to people like that?" I asked. "Because maybe _that's _why people are judging you and treating you badly. If you act like an immature brat, people are going to think that's what you are."

"Immature?" she asked. "I'm a mother of twins now, and I've been through hell to get them here!"

"I don't _care _about your reproductive health, kid," I sneered. "I mean you're acting like a child. Let me guess, you're not even with the father anymore?"

"Shut up," she hissed. "What business is it of yours?"

"I'll take that as a no," I said, smirking. "So who's watching the second baby, then? Where is it?"

Suddenly, the girl burst into tears.

"S-Somewhere...in here..." she sobbed. "She w-was born al...most...dead. She's...in surgery...n-now." That hit me hard, for some reason, and I narrowed my eyes in anger.

"Well," I said. "At least you didn't get to know her at all."

"What?" the girl asked quietly.

"Think about it," I said. "There are some mothers out there who have children that are dying, but children they have actually gotten to know _after _they were born. They got to see them grow, learn, develop personalities...they created new memories. They came to _love _their children." I inhaled deeply. "So consider yourself lucky. Besides, no matter what happens, you'll still have one left." The girl stared at me. "And some people won't even have that."

"H-How...could you say that?" she asked, looking at me sorrowfully. But suddenly, she looked down. "I know why..."

"Really, do you?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "You're taking your anger out on me, and...I'm sorry...for whatever happened." The tears started flowing from her eyes again.

That sent me into shock. A seventeen-year-old girl had more empathy and wisdom than I did at twenty-two. It didn't matter what her situation was, or mine, for that matter...we were going through the same pain.

I didn't know what to do, what to say...until I saw a box of tissues on a small end table next to my chair. I reluctantly pulled a few out, and attempted to hand them to the girl. But then, I remembered that it could be cumbersome to nurse a newborn baby and do something else at the same time, so as creepy as it seemed, I went over to her and started dabbing at her face with a tissue. At first, she looked at me like I was a freak, though I didn't blame her, then she started to cry more. The sight of her was so pitiful that I started to cry as well.

"I'm sorry," I said, trying to keep my voice from trembling. "You're...right. I'm angry. I want my son...to live. And somehow, because of that, I lashed out at you."

"It's...okay," the girl sobbed.

"It's not okay," I said. "No one deserves to hear what I just said to you." I looked down at her baby, who was kicking his little legs that stuck out from under the blanket. "No one."

The girl sniffed, and I noticed her crying had slowed a little.

"Um..." she said hesitantly. "He's not finished yet, but...I kind of need to blow my nose." She bit her lip and looked at me apologetically. I just smiled, grabbed another tissue, and held it in front of her face.

"Thanks," she said, once she had finished blowing her nose. With that, her baby cooed a little, and she rolled her eyes. "Perfect timing, Tristan. This poor lady had to blow Mommy's nose while you were happily making your orc noises." She pulled him out from under the blanket, and with her free hand, fastened her shirt back up. I stifled a laugh; I had never heard anyone speak with such a sharp tongue to a baby. Yet somehow, it was endearing.

"I should probably get going," I said, smiling at her. "My husband is probably wondering where I am."

"Wait," she said. "I didn't catch your name."

"Leona," I said. "And again, I'm sorry about earlier, um..."

"Aria," the girl said.

"Well, Aria," I said. "I hope everything goes well for you and for your family. Somehow, I'm sure that no matter what happens, things will turn out all right."

"Same to you," Aria replied. At that point, she already had Tristan's head on her shoulder, and was patting him on the back gently.

As I left the room, I smiled. Maybe things would turn out okay, after all.

* * *

**And there's your cameo. :)**

**I was originally going to have a completely different ending for this chapter, but once I started writing it, I felt too bad for both of them to have them leave each other hurting! I guess I'm a big softie. XD**


	35. Breaking Point

I walked back down the hallway to where I had left Leif sitting, still feeling better than I had been before I spoke to Aria.

However, it only took a glare from Leif to send me crashing back down again.

"Where _were_ you?" he asked.

"Trying to avoid a conflict with you," I said. "I would have thought that to be pretty obvious, considering I removed myself from the situation."

"Well," he said. "I don't think removing yourself from the situation would be a very good thing if something went wrong with-"

"Shut up," I hissed. He glared at me for a moment before sighing and rubbing his eyes. I sat down one seat away from him, crossing my arms.

And we stayed that way for quite some time. I didn't even bother. But then, something started beeping in Leif's pocket.

"Oh God..." he murmured, his face turning pale as he took the small device out. I felt sick once I realized what it was. It was some kind of alert system given to us in case anything went wrong during Gunie's surgery.

And the loud, angry, repetitive noises coming from that thing were signifying just that.

"Come on!" Leif cried, pulling me out of my chair. As much as my legs wanted to move, faster than they ever had before, I felt as though I had gone into shock and become dead weight. But we didn't go far before we saw a doctor that I recognized, and Leif obviously recognized him too.

"I was coming to get you," he said. "Now calm down and come with me."

The doctor led us down a long, brightly lit hallway, like every godforsaken one in the building, but this one led to a room with white tile floor and pale green walls, and there were two armchairs that didn't look very comfortable in the corner.

"You might want to sit down," he said.

_As if I didn't know there was bad news coming, _I thought bitterly.

"The tumor was successfully removed," he said. For a second, I felt a tiny spark of hope. "However, your son has slipped into a coma that may develop into a persistent vegetative state. If that occurs...we are not sure if he will ever be able to recover. I'm sorry..."

The emotional turmoil I felt at that moment was paralyzing. Leif held back tears as the doctor left the room, but I felt as though I couldn't move, I couldn't cry, I couldn't do _anything._

But then, they brought Gunie into the room on a gurney and laid him down in the small bed in the center of the room. As they hooked him up to several machines they had brought in, I got up from my chair and started walking toward him. It felt as though I was under some sort of hypnosis, but if that were the case, I would have felt completely calm, free of a palpitating heart.

As I neared the bed, my heart started beating faster and faster as the details came into my sight. He was pale, and a section of his head had been shaven and had stitches running across it. But even though his physical appearance at the time was enough to make anyone lose control, there was something about him that was just...empty. He didn't seem like my beautiful, happy baby anymore. He seemed like he was already a ghost.

And that was when I snapped.

The next few minutes were a complete blur as I ran out of the building, screaming in anguish. It was raining hard, but I didn't care. I was crying too hard to notice my surroundings, or where I was going. But eventually, my legs gave out, and I fell to my knees, right in a deep, filthy puddle on the dirty sidewalk.

The thoughts and images racing through my head were all disturbing ones, and I couldn't get them to leave. This child, my precious baby that I had carried inside me for nine months and known for even longer...why did I run away from him? And why did I run away from Leif?

"I'm scared," I murmured. "_I'm scared!_"

But the horrible thing about it was that I was scared for _myself. _And I felt as though I couldn't be with them anymore. Leif deserved someone stable, and Gunie deserved a mother that would never abandon him. Still, I had nowhere to go.

I looked up at the sky that was dark from heavy storm clouds and the approaching night, and I was shocked when I realized that I had run all the way to the theater...the place with the stage I had dreamed of performing on. That seemed so far in the past, and just seeing it again made me want to die.

After sitting there and crying for what seemed like forever, I heard footsteps coming toward me.

"Leona!" a familiar voice cried. I looked up, and saw my only friend left in Palermo, Richard. But I couldn't even bring myself to stand up.

"What happened to you, sweetie?" he asked as he approached me. It was at that point that I was able to bring myself to stand up.

"I...I left them..." I whimpered. "And...I have nowhere to g-go..." The more I thought about that, the truer it seemed; I had left everything behind, including clothing and money. But I couldn't go back.

"Oh, honey," he said, giving me a hug despite my filthy and soaked clothing. "I won't bring it up again, but for now, you can stay at my apartment, okay?"

"But...but what about Marcus?" I asked. "Will you have enough room for me?"

"Sweetie," he said. "Marcus and I split up _ages _ago. And even if we hadn't, I wouldn't just let you go through this by yourself! Now, _you_ are coming over and getting out of this rain."

"O...Okay," I said quietly.

Richard started dragging me off in the direction of his apartment, and for the next few blocks, my eyes continued to tear up. While I was relieved that he had so eagerly agreed to let me stay with him, I almost wished that no one in the world would ever show me such kindness again.

* * *

**Well, Leona's snapped...and it's only going to get worse.**

**And I apologize for how short it is, and how long I've gone without updating! I'm going to try to be more consistent again.**


	36. The Audition

In just under a month, I had managed to go from a grieving mother on the verge of losing her child to a partying, drunken, don't-give-a-crap frequenter of the city's nightlife. Although in reality, I was what I had been before, I tried as hard as I could to push that all to the back of my mind. I didn't need any reminders of how much pain I was supposed to be going through.

However, my time of living in the moment was in danger of being at its peak, because Richard was starting to get tired of me coming home at four in the morning and its implications.

"I swear to God, Leona," he said one afternoon after I had woken up with a hangover. "If you break anything else or get sick in my apartment again, I'm going to have to kick you out! And I _really _don't want to have to do that."

"Not so loud," I muttered, pulling the blankets on the couch over my head.

"You've been here for weeks," he said. "Aren't you planning on, you know, going _home_ at any point?"

I wanted to tell him everything. How I had abandoned my husband and child in a time of emotional turmoil and grief, and how I had no home to return to, but I couldn't. He would be disgusted with me, as I was with myself. And yet, I was somehow able to live with it, even though it had become a pathetic existence.

After a while of me not responding, Richard sighed and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I have some work to do at the costume shop," he replied. "I'll see you later." With that, he left.

During the time he was gone, I tried everything to make my headache go away. Coffee, water, lying down for hours, even trying to make myself physically ill...none of it worked. But after lying back down again, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

At first, there was nothing but blackness, but then, I started to feel myself walking. It was still dark, but I could see the tiniest streak of light off in the distance. I felt around, making sure I didn't bump into anything, until finally, I reached the source of the light. It was moving slightly, and when I reached out in front of me, I felt some sort of fabric, like velvet from a curtain. When I grabbed it, it felt like there was something weighing it down. At that point, I was fairly certain of where I was, but I wanted to make sure. So, I pushed the curtain aside, and stepped out into the light.

My initial thought was true as a realized that I was standing on a dimly-lit stage. But why was I there? I looked out into the house to see if anyone was there, but it was silent, and the house lights were off anyway.

I walked around hesitantly. Although I had no idea what was going on, it was kind of nice to set foot on a stage once again.

"Are you just going to walk around like that?" a harsh, male voice said. I gasped in surprise.

"Who's out there?" I asked.

"You don't need to know," the voice replied. I frowned.

"I'm leaving," I said. "I'm not in the mood to be molested by some creep." I started to walk away, but suddenly, a painfully bright spotlight shone on me. I cried out, and I tried running away, only to discover that it was a moving spot, and whoever was operating it was pretty good at following me around.

"I'm not here to do anything like that," the man said. "I just want to talk to you. It's part of your audition."

"Fine!" I cried. "Just turn that thing off! I feel like my head is going to explode!" Luckily, he complied.

I stood there for a moment before the mysterious man made any kind of sound.

"Leona, right?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied. "Shouldn't you know that?"

"Just double checking," he replied. "There are so many people to keep track of."

"So you know my name," I said after a moment. "What's yours?" He sighed, obviously annoyed.

"Like I told you," he said. "You don't need to know. But if you really feel like you need to call me something, you can call me R, for the time being." I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, R," I said. "So what do you need me to do? A monologue, or something?"

"I don't want someone else's words," he scoffed. "I want _yours_." I heard some papers shuffle. "I'm going to read your resumé, and if anything is unclear to me, I'll ask you about it." There was silence for a bit, and I looked down at my feet.

"Aren't you supposed to read the resumé before all this?" I finally asked.

"I have slightly unorthodox methods," he replied. "They're probably influenced by my age and lack of experience in general."

"Your age?" I asked, confused. "How old are you?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here," he replied. "Besides, that's generally a rude question. Anyway, I've found an interesting section of this...the most recent one."

_What? _I wondered. I'd done so many other things than _Romeo and Juliet._ Even though it was the most impressive thing on my resumé, why would that be the only thing R was looking at?

"Sure," I said. "What do you want to know?"

"Why you were cast but never performed the show," R replied promptly.

My heart started racing, and I wanted to run, but for some reason, I didn't.

"Something came up," I replied hesitantly. "And it made me unfit for the part."

"Must have been pretty significant to make you leave the company," he said. "What, your dressing room wasn't big enough?" He chuckled softly, and I joined in, hoping that he wouldn't mention anything more about it, but I heard a slam, like a hand hitting a table. "Stop laughing. I want to know why you left the most prestigious theater troupe in all of Norad, is that quite all right?"

"Personal reasons," I snapped. "It's none of your concern."

"You don't know that," he said. "So, are you going to tell me or not?" I took a deep breath.

"I found..." I started, but for some reason, finishing the sentence was hard. "I found out that I was pregnant." R laughed.

"Interesting," he muttered. "I would have guessed a mental breakdown." I pursed my lips, deciding to hold back on the insults, but I was ready to fire in case they were really needed. "And the kid? Must be a year old by now."

"Yes," I said, nodding. I didn't want to add that there was a possibility he was dead.

"You sound uncertain," R commented. "When was the last time you saw him, Leona?"

"That's absolutely none of your business!" I shouted, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Let me guess," he said. "You've split up with your husband and left your baby behind with him."

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

"I see," R said. "Your family was struggling. Something was wrong with your kid and so you left him and those who care about him!"

"I _do _care about him!" I shouted, finally letting the tears go.

"Sure you do," he spat. "That's why you left a comatose infant behind like he was already dead and buried."

"_Shut up!_" I cried. "You don't understand!"

"You're right!" he shouted, sounding just as angry as I did. "I _don't _understand! A mother is supposed to love her child, to do _everything _to make sure he's all right! But the way I see it, you're not a mother. You're _nothing._"

"I'm getting the hell out of here!" I shouted, going back toward the wings.

"Oh, no you don't," R said ominously. "If you leave like this, I can assure you that Gunie will be dead. He's barely hanging on as is."

I stopped in my tracks.

"How do you know my son's name?" I asked. Then, a figure quickly jumped up onto the edge of the stage, and started taking steps toward me.

"You should figure that out soon enough," he said as he approached me. From far away, all I could see was a mess of brown hair and bespectacled eyes. But as he came close, I gasped as I saw the _eyes_ behind the glasses. The blue eyes that I had seen so many times before.

"You..." I started, but what I was about to say was so preposterous, even I couldn't believe it. He scowled at me, in a way that further confirmed my suspicions.

"Yeah," he said. "Now aren't you happy you didn't leave that stage?"

* * *

**Talk about an actor's nightmare!**

**So glad I was able to put this up. There will be a part two to this, but for now, you'll just have to wait and see what happens~  
**


	37. Callbacks

I continued staring, shocked, as Gunie crossed his arms. I couldn't believe it. It _had _to be him. He had my hair, my eyes, Leif's frown, and his build as well...there was no denying it. This was our son, all grown up. I did my best to hold back tears.

"Are you just going to keep standing there?" he asked, although his voice wasn't as hostile as it was before. At that moment, I got over the shock, and I threw my arms around him and started crying.

"My baby!" I said in between sobs. "I'm...I'm so sorry I left you!" I looked at him again and smiled through my tears. "Look at you! You're all grown up! How old are you?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling just the tiniest bit. "I thought I'd pick a point in my life where you could most relate to me, or at least take me seriously. So we're about the same age."

"I'd take you seriously anytime," I said, hugging him again.

"I know," he replied. "But since I'm married with a kid of my own, I-"

"Married?" I exclaimed. "And you already have a baby?"

"You're going to love my wife when you meet her," he said, beaming. "And you'll love my son, too. But I don't want to spoil all the fun."

"I understand," I told him, wiping my eyes.

Gunie took a few steps away before sitting down on the edge of the stage.

"Sit down, Mom," he said, beckoning to me. I walked over to him, and joined him.

"So," I said after a moment. "How are you?" He sighed.

"Not so well," he said, looking away. "I'm conscious again, and even though Dad refuses to leave me alone for more than a few minutes, I still miss you." I bit my lip.

"Can you...see?" I asked hesitantly.

"Not yet," he replied. "And I'm going to be honest and say that you'll probably cry when you first see me after all this time. I look like a mess. But at least I'll know you're there." He paused, and looked right at me. "I forgot to mention that Dad misses you too."

"I'm sure he does," I replied, sighing.

"Actually," he said. "That was a huge understatement. He doesn't eat regularly anymore, and he can never sleep. Like I said, he just spends all that time in the same chair pulled right up next to my bed."

I sighed heavily again.

"I don't know how I'm going to face him again," I said. "As strange as this sounds, I think we may have been equally devastated by our separation. The reason I say it sounds strange is because I was the one who left. I guess I just handled it differently..."

"Quite differently," Gunie said. "But there's nothing wrong with you being devastated by being away from him. I mean, as much as I'm going to pretend to be disgusted by it when I'm older, I'm always going to be amazed at how much you love each other. That is, if you go back to us." There was a silence between the two of us after that, but finally, I decided to share one of my many concerns.

"Are you sure he still loves me?" I asked quietly.

Gunie looked me right in the eyes, a small smile on his face.

"I think you know the answer to that," he said. "I don't get why you're so hesitant about saying it. Besides, there are going to be all kinds of struggles that Dad and I won't be able to go through with just the two of us. We _need _you, Mom. And we love you."

I looked at him and smiled, tears forming in my eyes once again. I knew what he said was true, and that maybe there could even be more people in the future that would need me to be around.

"Another thing," he said. "If you don't get back together with Dad, we'll be short a bridesmaid and a flower girl for my wedding, to say the least." He laughed. "I shouldn't be telling you all of this, but I need to be as persuasive as possible." My eyes widened.

"Are you saying," I said slowly. "That we're going to have two daughters, too?"

"I'm not saying anything more," Gunie said, smirking. "Besides, you need to be living in the present. You need to wake up." I smiled.

"Yeah," I said. "I guess so."

"There are going to be a lot of tough times ahead," he said, his face turning serious again. "Dark times, in fact. Still, will you stay?" I hugged him.

"Of course," I said. I heard him laugh softly again.

"Good," he said, and the next thing I knew, he was gone.

It was the middle of the night when I opened my eyes, or from what I could tell, anyway. I was still on Richard's couch, but the hangover was gone, and I felt wide awake. I knew what I had to do.

After getting dressed in what little clothing I had with me, and scrawling a quick note that I left on the small kitchen table, I quietly left the small apartment, and headed straight for the hospital.

Normally, I would have been hesitant to walk more than a block by myself so late at night in the middle of the city, but I had no time to hesitate. I told myself that as I walked down the streets, through the hospital, and finally, down the hallway where Gunie's room was.

Almost silently, I walked behind the doorframe, and peeked out just enough to see if anyone was in the room. Sure enough, there was. I could see Leif just barely, but I wasn't at a good angle to see Gunie's bed.

"I shouldn't nap for so long," Leif said. "Heaven forbid you should get bored and start screaming like you did last time." I heard a familiar whimper, and Leif's expression softened. "Aw, I was just kidding. Is your head okay, buddy?" The soft cries continued, and Leif sighed. "If only she'd come back...Mama's so much better at figuring out what you're trying to say." He sighed again, and looked down. "Leona...I'm sorry..."

The tears in my eyes that had been threatening to spill had started up, and I let out a sob before I could stop it. Leif looked over to the doorway, and he obviously caught sight of me, because his mouth was slightly open, and his eyes were wide.

"H-Honey..." I said. "Don't...apologize w-when you haven't...done anything..."

For a moment, I was terrified, so terrified I couldn't even move. But then, Leif unsteadily rose from his chair, and walked quickly over to me. He hugged me tightly, and I did the same to him. And for a while, neither of us said a word. We just cried.

"I missed you so much," Leif finally said.

"And I missed you," I told him. "And I promise, I'll never leave you again."

"And I won't let you," he said. Once he said that, he kissed me, and I was so happy he did that I started to cry again. But a small voice brought us out of our embrace.

"Ma...ma...?" Gunie asked, his voice sounding weak. I let go of Leif and walked over to the side of Gunie's bed.

He was pale, and he had lost a lot of weight since I had last seen him. And his eyes still stared off blankly, since he still had nothing to see. But it didn't matter anymore. He was _alive._

"Hi baby," I said, kneeling down next to him. I took his little hand, and held it. "I'm back now, and...I love you." Gunie let out a little coo, seeming a bit more relaxed than he had been before. And after a moment, he did something completely unexpected.

He laughed.

At the sound of his happy voice, I started to laugh too, as I cried with happiness. Leif did the same, and I felt overcome with a sense of joy as I realized that I had my family back. And that was how it would stay.

* * *

**Finally, a chapter! And a happy one, too!**

**By the way, I've forgotten to mention for the past several chapters that a lot of the dialogues within them would probably not be in this fic without the help of fellow writer Veggietales Gal, and I'd like to say thanks!**

**The bulk of the remainder of this story will mostly be filler chapters depicting how Leif and Leona adjust to having a recovering Gunie at home. So look forward to that! XD  
**


	38. One Year

I had never thought that a month could change so many things in a person's life, but it could. The biggest change was that Leif, Gunie, and I had made the decision to move in with my parents. Since Gunie hadn't yet regained his eyesight, we knew it was going to take a lot to help him readjust to everything he had known before. And my parents were perfect for giving us that additional support.

And during that time, spring had passed and changed to summer, and on one particular day, a happy change came about, signifying that Gunie had, against all odds, completed his first year of life.

The sun was streaming through the windows of our bedroom, and luckily, it wasn't too hot outside. It was going to be a perfect day for Gunie's birthday. I stretched briefly, and looked over at Leif, who was asleep next to me. Dad had given him the day off, so of course, Leif was taking advantage of the extra sleep.

"Honey, wake up," I said quietly as I sat up in bed. When he didn't respond, I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. His eyes fluttered open, and he turned his head toward me, his lips brushing against mine. I took the opportunity to kiss him there as well.

"Morning," he said sleepily. "Birthday boy not up yet?"

"Not yet," I replied with a smile. "It shouldn't be long, though." It was true; Gunie's hearing had become so acute since he relied on it so much, so it didn't take much to get his attention when it came to sound. And as if on cue, we heard some noise start to come from his room.

"Mama!" he called. "Dada!" He followed that up with a few attempts at other words, but failed in the most adorable way. I laughed.

"Better let him out," Leif said, laughing along with me. "He'll start up with that shrieking again."

"Let's go together, though," I said. "That's how it was when I first got to hold him."

"Today is so similar to that day," he said. "Not too hot, not too cold, sunny, beautiful...and it was around this time that you woke up."

"Yeah," I said. "Now let's go before he-"

"_Maaaaa!_" Gunie shouted from the next room. I rolled my eyes.

"The screaming at inconvenient times hasn't changed either," Leif joked, getting out of bed. I followed suit.

"No kidding," I said. "Now let's go see him."

We walked down the hall to Gunie's room, and I opened the door. He had managed to stand up with the help of his crib, since he wasn't too comfortable walking or standing on his own just yet. I could tell right away that he recognized our footsteps, because he laughed excitedly and bent and straightened out his knees over and over as though trying to jump.

"Someone wants to be a dancer like Daddy," I said, laughing softly and taking Gunie out of his crib. He giggled, and touched my hands.

"Hiii!" he cooed happily.

"I still can't believe how insanely early he started talking," Leif said. He walked over to us and touched Gunie's hand. "Are you a prodigy, Gunie?"

"A-dadaa," he said, in a voice that was comically serious.

"No need for that tone of voice," I said, smiling at him. "You _are_ a little smartypants. Speaking of pants, let's get you dressed." I gave him a kiss on his pudgy little cheek and started changing him into an outfit I had gotten especially for his birthday party, a pair of little blue shortalls and a white collared shirt to go under them.

"I wonder if he'll be okay..." Leif said after a moment. Still managing to dress Gunie, I briefly looked at him and saw his concerned expression.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, there's just going to be a lot of commotion," he explained. "And since he has to rely almost entirely on his hearing, all of the noise might get a little overwhelming for him."

"If he starts getting really upset I'll take him somewhere else," I said. "But that's only because he's still kind of delicate right now. He still can't see, which means he might have a little bit of difficulty among the other kids, but that's why we're here. To help him." I looked at Leif, smiling a little, and he smiled back at me. However, in that time, Gunie had managed to grab a fistful of my hair and yank on it. "Ow! Gunie, we don't do that!" I pried his hands away from my hair, and he shrieked a little, as though imitating my angry tone. After shaking my head briefly, I stuffed his feet into his little white shoes.

"Looking good, bud," Leif said, grinning and squeezing Gunie's hand softly. Gunie giggled, and reached his arms out to feel around for Leif, who quickly picked him up so he didn't get frustrated trying to find him.

"Dada," Gunie cooed, snuggling up against Leif. He said something else after that, but it took me a moment to understand it: "I love you."

Leif chuckled, and patted Gunie's back.

"Nope," he said. "Dad didn't do anything. You should say 'I love you' to Mama, since she's the one who got you here one year ago today." He kissed the top of Gunie's head. "And we're happy that you stayed here..."

I suddenly felt my eyes tear up. True, it was a day to celebrate, and my tears were partially ones of joy. After all, it was hard to believe that only a year ago, Gunie had been a tiny little thing, completely new to the world. But at the same time, the thought of coming so close to losing him, someone so precious to me, and the idea of any one of us having to suffer like that again pained me. For the time being, though, I knew I had to treasure each second I had with everyone I loved.

I let out a little sob, and Leif looked over at me.

"Hey," he said gently. "What's wrong, Leona?" I looked at him, unsure of what to say. I didn't want to tell him what I had been thinking, since I didn't want to remind him of those times. But then, I started to laugh.

"Sorry," I said, wiping my eyes. "It's just an emotional day. Our little boy is growing up..."

"Do big!" Gunie exclaimed, stretching his arms out. I laughed.

"Yes," I said, kissing him on the cheek. "You _are _so big."

"Speaking of big," Leif said. "I bet the cake Eunice made is going to be something else." I looked at him, remembering.

"Oh, that's right!" I exclaimed. "Would you mind going to pick that up? I've got some other stuff I need to do to set up."

"Sure," he said, handing Gunie to me. "I'll be back in a bit." He kissed me quickly before heading back to the bedroom to change clothes.

I looked down at Gunie, who was snuggling up to me and making little coos that almost sounded like he was singing. He was so happy...

"We're going to make today a good one," I told him. "I promise."

* * *

**Oh my gawd, an update. I'm so happy I want to cry! :D**

**Sorry this chapter is kinda short and kinda boring, but the next one will be more eventful. After all, having energetic toddlers and cranky babies all under one roof always is.  
**


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